Melody Riddle and the Prizoner of Azkaban
by lisa602
Summary: Melody is more than ready for another year at Hogwarts, missing the times with her friends and keeping busy with work. She has a whole new year of dangerous missions that nobody else knows about. When she gets her new missions from her father, she worries more about getting caught doing something wrong now more than ever with dementors prowling about the school.
1. Chapter 1

"Wands choose the wizard. The wizard must deserve the wand to be able to use it properly." I repeated.

"Very good," my grandpa said, "Very good! I think you can start trying to help me run the shop this year, Melody."

"Really? I can?" I asked him excitedly.

I was no ordinary witch, though I made others see that I believed I was. From my mother's side, I was related to a long line of wandmakers… the Ollivanders. But that was more normal than what I wasn't supposed to know about my dad's side, especially anything about my dad.

I knew from an incident the year before that I was related to Salazar Slytherin, a founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which I attended to learn magic.

My father was Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord that everyone had been afraid of so long ago; in my second year I found a memory of him, and in my first year I met him in person, barely alive and living off of someone else.

He was after a boy name Harry Potter, who he had tried to kill as a baby but was unable to and ended up losing all his power and went into hiding.

"Of course," grandpa said, "After all you've studied you know how to work with wands… you know their importance and how different each wood and core are. You've even memorized the properties of all the wands I've ever sold. Melody, you have my good memory."

I laughed, "It's a good thing, too, if I'm to be able to take over the shop for you."

My Uncle Gerald walked in and said, "Nah, you don't need a whole memory of what wands have been sold to who."

"Melody, tell him," grandpa said smugly.

"If someone were to lose or break their wand, they would come back to the shop to get a new wand. Knowing what their original wand was helps to narrow down the number of wands to test them with." I rattled off.

Gerald snorted, "Good job gramps, you turned your granddaughter into a book of notes."

"Gerald," grandpa said in a warning tone.

I couldn't be mad at Gerald for saying that, I certainly felt like a book, knowing the correct answer for everything. Perhaps even a textbook, a history textbook at that. Grandpa wanted me to be just like him, though Uncle Gerald and mom certainly detested the idea.

Wands were an interesting subject to me, but I hadn't expected to be the heir to the wand shop, knowing everything about it. I thought maybe Uncle Gerald or mom, considering they were Ravenclaws and I wasn't. I was the first Slytherin of the Ollivanders, but continued it as the Heir of Slytherin... _an_ Heir of Slytherin.

Gerald held his hands up defensively, "Just saying dad."

"Uh huh," grandpa muttered, walking away.

"Your welcome," Gerald said to me.

I smirked, "Yeah, thanks, but I was enjoying being the smart one."

Gerald blew a raspberry at me, "You enjoy being a smart ass, that's what you mean to say to me isn't it?"

"In a way, but _you_ put it so _rudely_."

Gerald burst out laughing. "Go finish your schoolwork. I heard from Orele that you have a lot extra from Professor Snape, and you don't want to hold out on that until July."

"I know, I know, I'll finish it before July anyways, I just wanted to fit in my lessons with grandpa. By July I'll be ready to go to the shop with him." I was really excited about going to do that. Wands were my most favorite subject to learn about; the different woods there were, which cores worked best for certain woods, and, more amazingly, the mind of a wand. Each one had a different personality from the other one, like people, and so it made them living, breathing things.

"Again, smart ass."

"Gerald," my mom came into the room.

"Oh, please, you were saying that at Melody's age!"

"Shh!" she hissed at him.

I chuckled and snuck out of there to go upstairs to my room. It was always best to get out of the room before they got their wands out and duelled each other. The way they fought made me glad I didn't have any siblings... my age anyways.

What I didn't note about my mom coming into the room is that she is now six months pregnant. The problem is (she married the guy who is the baby's father, so that is not the problem) that the man did a memory charm that backfired on him, and so now he has no memory of her or me or even anything about the magical world. He was the best-selling author, Gilderoy Lockhart, who I despised and so you can certainly say I am glad I don't have to build any relationship with him.

Mom still visits the idiot, because she's been in love with him ever since they were in school together but... she goes in secretly. The hospital has no record of her going there and they didn't put any record of their marriage either, so she is pretty much still single... or still married to my stepdad in America, I'm not even sure anymore about whether or not she's married.

In any case, I have a younger half brother in America and another baby half-sibling on the way.

I reached my room where Bodoujn, my sweet black cat, was sitting on the bed as though he waited for me. He gave me a look that seemed to say 'get to work' and I chuckled, sitting down next to him to scratch his head.

Taking out all the homework I had, I took a quill and worked on it for about five to six hours before I finished. Homework was easy enough, and I sometimes found it amazing how I kept wishing that my teachers would give me much more work for the summer. If I told anyone I felt that way, I _would_ be called crazy.

Well, what else would you call a girl who isn't sure whether she is good or bad?


	2. Chapter 2

"No, seriously, _don't do anything_ for my birthday." I insisted for about the fifth time that afternoon. My birthday was the next day, July thirty-first, and I honestly didn't want anything.

"But we didn't do anything for you last year," my mom said, "The last birthday present I gave you was some ink, a quill, and Bodoujn.. two years ago. Please allow me to get you something you want."

I sighed, "How about this? When I go to the shop with grandpa, I'll look in the windows of other shops and if I find anything I'd really, really like, I will tell you."

Mom sighed, "Deal?"

"Deal... all right?"

"All right."

I gave a nod. What I should have said was my best birthday present was from grandpa, being able to work in his shop for the first time as it proved to be very fun and a good way to spend my time.

What I was hoping for, also, was the letter and list of books for the new school year. It was to be my third year at Hogwarts and we had chosen elective classes the year before to take from third year to seventh, and last, year. I had chosen to do Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures.

The other such electives were Divination, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies... Divination and Arithmancy were fortune-telling classes which I really didn't like the idea of. As for Muggle Studies, I had already lived like one so there was no point in taking the class, and also for the fact that were I to take it I would most likely be hated by other Slytherins. Didn't want any such thing.

At the wand shop (I had _not _seen anything I wanted from other stores), I sat at the side of the shop. Grandpa wanted me to 'watch and learn' how he picked wands for other students (or possibly adults).

"Tomorrow you will start doing my job, and we'll see how you do," he had said.

It was okay to watch him give out wands but, of course, I'd gone through the same process, _and_ seen him do it with my friend, Becky. Also Addy, but.. in any case she broke off a friendship with Becky and I because we got into Slytherin and she got into Hufflepuff.

Watching had its interesting parts, but it wasn't my best day. I'd already seen him do it before so it wasn't like I was watching 'at the edge of my seat.'

At lunchtime, grandpa nudged me.

"What?" I asked monotonously.

"You aren't enjoying this?" he asked in surprise.

"I think seeing you do it with thirty people today was enough."

"I did about ninety –"

"Exactly." I said, placing my head on my hands, elbows balancing on knees.

"Do you want to go home for the day and then start selling tomorrow?" he asked.

I nodded, just stood up, and left.

The way we got to Diagon Alley that day was with floo powder in which you took the powder with you into a fireplace and threw it down saying clearly the place you wanted to go to. It was my first day doing it, but it was a pretty easy process to get a hang of. I wasn't about to go straight home, though.

I took some floo powder from a bag grandpa had given to me. He had said, "It's best to bring this everywhere in case you need to get somewhere quick and there's a chimney." _If it supports the floo network_, I'd thought.

I found a good chimney, stepped in, took a handful of floo powder, and held it out in front of me. "Malfoy Manor," I said, throwing down the powder.

As I traveled through what seemed like a windy pipe, keeping my arms tucked in, I thought, _I hope I don't get in trouble for doing this first_.

I finally landed, and stumbled down to the ground. I muttered softly to nothing as I stood up and dusted myself off.

"I have no news of your father."

Looking up, there was Lucius Malfoy, father of my friend, Draco. He, so far, was the only person I told that I know I'm the daughter of the Dark Lord, since he is a trusted Death Eater (follower) of his and he needed him to do something for during my second year. I really don't want to say anything about that though, that was terrible.

"How'd you know I would ask?"

He gave a small smirk. He was looking down at some paperwork and hadn't even looked up at me. "It was a guess. You know your father, he won't come out into the world until he's certain he will be able to get on top."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Sarcasm or sincerity?"

I chuckled, "Sincerity." What I had found exciting was he wasn't sounding afraid of me as he did the year before when I told him about myself. I guess my being good friends with Draco made him feel more comfortable around me. "Draco here?"

"Up in his room."

"Thanks." I made my way towards the door.

"Does your family know you're here, Melody, dear?" Lucius asked. _Dear_?

"Uh, I was just with my grandpa at the shop, he thinks I just went home." I said.

"Best keep your visit short, then," he said, looking up at me, "I know your mother's temper, wouldn't want that released on you."

"I've seen it, I think at its worst, but I'm sure she won't snap at me for checking with Draco." I said.

He shrugged and looked back at his work, "Hope so, too." _How odd of him, worrying for me_.

I went upstairs to Draco's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

I opened the door, "Hi."

"Hey! What are you doing here?" he asked. He had a pale, pointed face and pale blonde hair with gray eyes. My eyes were gray as well, but his were paler by comparison, mine were silvery as everyone says to me. What a shock.

Draco was sitting at a desk in his room, I guess doing homework. I went over to sit at the edge of his bed.

"Just wondering, when are you going to get your school supplies?"

"I'm thinking we'll get our list tomorrow, your birthday, so maybe August the first."

"I'll go with you," I said, "Anything to get away from my mom buying me anything. But then she might go buying me something tomorrow when I'm in the wand shop."

"Your grandpa is letting you help out at the shop?"

"Yes, I'm excited!" I said with a big smile, clapping my hands together.

Draco laughed.

"What electives are you taking next year?" I asked, curiously.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy, you?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes. Why are you taking Arithmancy?" I asked.

"It sounds better than any of the other classes, save Care of Magical Creatures," he said with a sneer, "More accurate than Divination, too, which I've heard is a taught by a very strange woman. I'm not interested. Why Study of Ancient Runes?"

"Are you kidding? To be able to read ancient runic scriptures of magic sounds amazing –"

"Forgot, you're a reader," he said holding his hands up with a laugh. Then he became excited. "And do you know what else we get to do this year?"

I shook my head.

"We can go to Hogsmeade."

I smiled, "Really? Well, great!"

He nodded, "Something to finally be able to do."

"Right, you're _always so bored_." I emphasized sarcastically.

He burst out laughing. "It would be even funnier if we left Becky behind while we went."

"Why would we leave Becky behind?" I asked, knowing very well that Becky and Draco never got along. She enjoyed bothering him. Though, even I had to admit that I loved her sense of humor.

"She came here earlier, said she'd tell you too, but since you're not at home yet I'll tell you... her parents know about it and don't want to sign the form when it's sent home."

"Why?" I asked concernedly.

Draco shrugged, "Beats me, maybe she'll actually tell _you_."

I nodded and left him quickly to see if I could get home before Becky left... that is if she hadn't already.

Jumping into the chimney, I took out some floo powder and threw it down saying, "Ollivander Home."

"Melody, you're home early."

It was mom who said that with a note of shock. Becky was sitting at the dining room table and looked up when I entered the house.

_At least I didn't fall to the ground like before_, I thought, dusting myself off. "I'd had enough of just watching grandpa, I'll be there all day tomorrow though... uh, Becky and I will go upstairs if you need us."

Becky followed me and, once I closed us in my room, gave a breath of exhilaration. "Thank goodness, you know just what I need."

"I was just at Draco's. By the by, what classes did you sign up for next year?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes."

"Me too," I said, high-fiving her, "Anyways, he told me that your parents are refusing the idea of Hogsmeade. Why?"

"Does your family get newspapers?"

I shook my head, "Grandpa doesn't want to read 'that garbage.'"

Becky chuckled, "My mom says the same thing, but my dad reads it and got the news that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. They would rather I stay close to the school were he to ever go to Hogwarts."

I stared at Becky blankly. "Who's Sirius Black and why in the world would he go to Hogwarts? Let alone hurt anybody he probably doesn't care for."

"You don't know who Sirius Black is?!" she asked in shock.

"Remember, I haven't been in the wizarding world for very long and besides, I don't get news."

She looked grimly at me, "He's a big supporter of You-Know-Who. Was the one who betrayed the Potter family to You-Know-Who _and_ killed _thirteen muggles_ with one curse. He's a mad man... been in Azkaban for twelve years."

"How easy is it to escape from Azkaban?"

"To put it this way... he's the first to _ever_ escape. Shows just how dangerous he is."

"Out of curiosity..." I thought aloud, "What kind of wizards serve as prison guards then?"

"None, the prison is guarded by dementors," she said, and when I looked at her questioningly, she elaborated. "Creatures that, when they get near you, suck all the happiness out of you."

I crinkled my nose.

Becky then looked at me mischievously, "And I've heard that once they catch Sirius Black, they're going to have them perform the dementor's kiss on them. That's where they suck out his soul and his body will just be an empty carcass."

"Oh my gosh," I said, holding my hand to my mouth, "I was already disturbed, but with that I believe I've lost any appetite I may have had for dinner."

Becky laughed. How typical.

"Melody!" my mom called.

"Huh?" I asked. I was up in my room rereading Hogwarts: A History for I don't know how long, but when I looked at the clock I groaned. She was probably going to chew my head off, staying up till one in the morning when I had to work in the shop the next day.

Mom burst in excitedly, holding a letter from Hogwarts. She handed it to me. _Thank God_!

I ripped it open, happy to be safe from anger _and_ to finally have the book list. I read aloud to her:

_Dear Miss Riddle,_

_ Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._

_ Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign._

_ A list of books for next year is enclosed._

_Yours Sincerely,_

Professor M. McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

Pulling out the Hogsmeade permission form, I handed it over to mom who instantly went in search of a pen while I continued on reading my list of books.

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 _by Miranda Goshawk

_Intermediate Transfiguration_

_The Monster Book of Monsters_

_Ancient Runes Made Easy_

"Wow," I said, "I add a couple classes but I have a shorter book list."

"Because you already have the needed books for your classes, just remember to bring those to school," mom said, giving me the form. "Are you sure you didn't want any books from the store? None sounded interesting?"

"I think I should cut back on books." I said with a laugh.

"Melody, you're reading Hogwarts: A History for about the hundredth time and you're telling me you should cut back on books? No, I'm getting you some books even though you don't want me to."

Mom was persistent when she wanted to be. But why now?

I groaned. But... more books wouldn't be _so_ totally amiss.


	3. Chapter 3

My mom insisted that I go with grandpa to the wand shop while she went to get my schoolbooks. I _had_ told Draco I would go with him, but then had to tell Becky to let him know that I was being made to do otherwise.

In a way, my being at the shop made grandpa's job easier. While he found a wand for one person, I would find a wand for someone else. Most people were very dubious when seeing I was to give their student a wand, but with some condolences by grandpa they believed in my ability.

I sold so many wands that I couldn't count them all. But by the end of my first day working there, I sat down in the spindly chair and gave a sigh of exhilaration. "Awesomeness."

Grandpa chuckled, "Tired already, Melody?"

"What do you mean already?" I asked. "It's the end of the day."

"Exactly, I don't get tired until it's the end of the summer."

"Yeah, and then you get the rest of the year to sleep for as long as you want. Guess what, I don't."

Grandpa smiled at me, and went into one of his cupboards, taking out two cups and a bottle. "Would you like some pumpkin juice?" When I nodded, he opened up the bottle and poured two glass fulls.

"How are you still walking around so energetically? We've just been standing _all_ day."

"I suppose you could say I'm used to it," grandpa said with a chuckle, handing me a glass, "But that doesn't even touch the full explanation... like you never get tired of reading your schoolbooks over and over again, I never get tired of doing my job. It is our passions that drive us."

I took a sip of pumpkin juice with a nod, "And people who do things they don't like what they're doing tire of it much easier."

"Exactly!"

"But I _do_ like doing this –"

Grandpa laughed, "I wasn't saying that you _haven't_ been enjoying your time here today, you just haven't fully gotten used to it. Do you know how to read a book the first time you look at it?"

"No, you need to learn how to first."

"Correct. It'll take just about this summer for you to get used to it. Then you could do it twenty-four seven."

Mom came into the shop with a big pile of books in her hands. I rolled my eyes as I stood up and she put them on the chair. That certainly was not four books, but _eleven_.

"Happy birthday, Melody," mom said with a big smile.

"Um.. thank you," I said, "So... what's this you got?"

"Well, I got your four schoolbooks:" she said, pointing to each of them. "_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3_ by Miranda Goshawk; _Intermediate Transfiguration_; _Monster Book of Monsters_; and _Ancient Runes Made Easy_. But I also got you some extra books, considering how fast you read. Two fun ones would be _The Philosophy of the Mundane: Why the Muggles Prefer Not to Know_ by Professor Mordicus Egg, and _Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming_. These five, which I know you aren't taking a class for, but I thought would be fun is; _Unfogging the Future_ by Cassandra Vablatsky, _Predicting the Unpredictable_, _Insulate Yourself Against Shocks and Broken Balls_, _When Fortunes Turn Foul_, and _Xylomancy_."

_Oh my gosh_, I thought,_ How much must this have cost_? I asked, "What's xylomancy?"

"According to this, it is: 'divination using a piece of wood or magic using wood.'" mom said, reading the summary.

I looked at the Monster Book of Monsters and now saw why it got its name. At the point where you would open the book up, there was a mouth with a sharp set of teeth. The good thing about it at that point was it was bound by a piece of leather... it's just that the leather didn't look like a part of the book.

"Ah, the poor manager of the book store had his hands full with those monster books. Had such a difficult time with them, kept getting bit when getting yours out. He's not yet used to them, said he won't ever stock them again."

I picked the book up, hearing it growl ominously. "How did he keep them?"

"All together in a cage. They're like animals, and they sometimes even tried tearing each other apart. Ruthless little things, I don't know how you're going to open it up and read it. It took me a while just to get that little piece of leather on it... had to ask for one from the manager and hold it tightly so it wouldn't bite." Mom glared at the book. "I might just take it from you and put it in Gerald's room, see how he likes it."

"You won't do any such thing!" Grandpa said.

Mom rolled her eyes.

"I'll see what I can do." I said, looking at it's mouth. Then I noticed it had four eyes and was staring back at me. It looked as though it itched to bite me."

"Don't look at me like that, shame on you." I said to it.

"Melody," mom said. I looked up at her, and she was looking at me in surprise. "What –"

I turned it around so she could take a look at it, "It's looking at me like it really wants to bite me."

"Huh. I didn't realize it had eyes. Makes it all the more creepy."

The book growled again. "I would suggest complimenting the book instead, because I'm pretty sure that the more you insult it, the more it comes to hate you."

Mom shrugged. "I don't care, it's not _my_ book."

I laughed, "True that."

I went to work on reading my schoolbooks first. _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3_ and _Intermediate Transfiguration_ I read first. There were spells in each one that I'd already been taught by Professor Snape for my extra time in the tutoring program.

Professor Snape was the potions master at Hogwarts, and he was also Head of Slytherin House. This being why he was the one who taught me extra spells _and_ how to tutor other students.

_Ancient Runes Made Easy_, I must say, was my read of the summer. It fascinated me the most. As for the _Monster Book of Monsters_... I was having difficulty opening it.

One such time I tried opening it; Becky burst into my room.

I gave a small jump, and put the book down. The better part was I hadn't taken the leather bound off of yet before she came in. I didn't want to risk being bitten. "Uhh, what's got you so excited?"

"I was just at Draco's –"

"Without me?" I asked interestedly, "What a shocker."

"That's why I'm here, to ask if you'll come but you look busy with your schoolbooks here."

"_Trying_ to, anyways," I said, giving a glare towards the monstrous book. "I don't know _who_ the teacher is, but this is incon_ceiv_able. No one is _ever_ going to be able to open these books."

Becky sighed, "You just need to give it some _love_."

"What, has that worked for you?" I asked disbelievingly.

She hesitated, "Not yet, but –"

"Proves the point. What happened that's got you all bursting to come here and tell me? I've just about given up on this book. Maybe the teacher will know how to open them." I said.

"Draco's father is a _genius_." Becky said happily.

"I thought this was already known." I said.

"Even more so," Becky said. "Draco told him about my parents' problem with me and Hogsmeade, and he spoke to them about it. The greatest thing about it is that they've now gone home in the agreement that they are going to sign the permission form as long as I promise to stay with the four of you at _all_ times."

My mouth dropped open, "Not likely that you wouldn't be with us. Oh, Becky, that's wonderful!"

"I'm so excited!" she said.

I laughed, "Calls for celebration. But not here."

"Why not?" Becky asked.

"My mom and Uncle Gerald are down there cleaning it as we speak. They had a go at each other earlier today, and as they kept missing each other the spells ricocheted off the walls and broke just about everything. Grandpa's making them do it without magic, took their wands and is watching them, probably laughing."

Becky laughed, "Happened to me earlier this summer. Had a row with my brother."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Our parents came back and the living room was on fire. We had to find out a way to put the fire out without magic. My brother is taking Muggle Studies and tried remembering what it was muggles did, and tried water, that wouldn't work because the fire only got bigger. And _then_ he remembered this sort of thing that muggles keep in every building, a sort of fire hydrant that isn't water."

I laughed. I remembered those things all too well back in America. They were in almost every room in the school I went to. Elementary schools were a little overprotective, but it was necessary I suppose.

August came and went by quickly. The last week of August was the biggest, much more people came in... more than I expected.

The one time grandpa and I had a break, I asked him, "Is there _always_ a bigger crowd of people coming in at the last minute?" When he nodded, I scoffed, "That shows how ill-prepared many of them are. _Jeez_."

What surprised me was when the Weasley family came in. Grandpa was at work with another student, so I walked up to the mother.

"Hello," I said.

"Ooh," she said excitedly, "Are you helping your grandfather out?"

I nodded, and she pushed Ron forward. I could tell he was most displeased that _I_ was going to fetch him his wand. I gestured him to follow me and asked, "What wand did you have before?"

He handed it to me, "It was originally my brother Charlie's."

It was together only just, an attempted repair with Spello-tape. "However did you manage to keep it working?"

"I... didn't," he said. "I'm lucky it broke, otherwise I'd have lost my memory."

My step dad, Gilderoy Lockhart, lost his memory by trying to use Ron's wand to erase Ron's and Harry's memories. Instead, it backfired and he erased his own. I could see at that moment that Ron was trying to intimidate me because Gilderoy Lockhart was my step dad.

"Certainly," I said with a smile, "Everybody's happy, too... let's see, did this work really well for you before then?"

He shrugged, "Pretty well."

The wand was Ash wood, twelve inches, with a core of unicorn hair. The problem with it breaking, I couldn't tell how the wood was; whether springy or supple.

"Which is your wand arm?"

"My right."

I went in search of a wand while my measuring tape measured Ron's arm. Once getting the measurements, I gave him wand after wand.

When I snatched another one from him, he said, "I think you just wand to find a wand that I look terrible with."

I snorted. "Hardly likely. It's not me choosing the wand. I'm picking what could be good with you, it's the wand that chooses."

I finally gave him a wand that gave off a bit of power when he touched it. "Aha!" I said, taking it away from him to wrap up. "Willow wood, fourteen inches, core of a unicorn... springy. Looks like the twelve inches on your brother's wand did you no good."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"That will be ten Galleons." I said.

"Mum," Ron called.

"How much?" the witch asked me with a bright smile.

"Ten Galleons."

She gave me the money and I handed Ron his new wand. "Thank you very much," she said, "Why, looks like Garrick was right about you. You're being very helpful to him, working at the shop."

I smiled back, "Thanks. I'm pretty much his best hope at taking over the shop since neither my mom nor my uncle want to work here."

She beamed, and Ron pulled her away, "Mum, let's go."

"Bye, dearie!" she said.

I waved, "Bye."

"That was interesting."

I turned around to find grandpa standing right behind me. Had I not gotten so used to him showing up where I didn't expect him, I most certainly would've jumped. "What was so interesting about that?"

"The Weasley boy didn't seem to like you very much."

"He doesn't like me at _all_. Just because I'm in Slytherin, he doesn't trust me and would rather be force-fed poison instead of talk to me."

"Hm... this has just made me realize how unfair it is for Slytherins and Gryffindors to hate each other."

I shrugged, picking up all the wands I tested Ron with and putting them back in their shelves. "Nothing I can do about it except try staying in the background so I don't suddenly get cursed by Gryffindors because I'm a Slytherin."

"Ravenclaw would have done you better justice."

I shook my head, "I may have been close to getting into Ravenclaw, but I find I do rather Slytherin. I had Herbology with them last year and they all hated me when I raised my hand and the teacher called on me instead... the thing was that it does seem they all clamber over each other for the better grades."

"Ah... that is true... I understand the problem you see with that."

"Do you now?" I asked, interestedly. "And what would that happen to be?"

"The friends you met here in Diagon Alley for your first year would have been in different houses from you... unless, of course, Becky hadn't been placed in Slytherin."

I gave a small nod, "That's possible... and I like being friends with Draco, Vincent, and Greg. I can't imagine being at Hogwarts without them."

Grandpa smiled, "I think I understand your meaning, my dear."


	4. Chapter 4

It was the very next day I woke up early (thanks to my alarm clock) and got myself ready for the train. Something that was certain, my trunk was a lot heavier this year thanks to all the extra books.

Once Bodoujn was in his cage, I brought my stuff downstairs and called out, "Mom, are you ready to go?"

"No, she is not," said Uncle Gerald, walking out of his room, "I will take you to King's Cross."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "... What's wrong with mom?"

He scoffed at me, "I didn't do anything to her, I swear. She's a little under the weather, and said she'll write to you when she can."

"All right, so... how are _you_ going to get me to King's Cross? I don't suppose you know how to drive a car?"

"No, we are disapparating. So, give me your trunk, you hold on to Bodoujn."

I handed him my trunk and kept a tight hold on Bodoujn's cage as I linked my arm to Uncle Gerald's and he disapparated.

"Wait a minute," I said, and Uncle Gerald looked at me questioningly, "Do you have my ticket."

"Of _course_ I have your ticket, it's right here," he said, pulling it out of his pocket.

I laughed. It was too easy to bug him.

We made our way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, taking off through it at a run and coming out the other end where the Hogwarts train was.

"You've got about thirty minutes left," Uncle Gerald said, "Well, good bye."

"Well, you've certainly become less friendly having to take me to the station." I noted as he started to walk away.

"I don't like waking up and disapparating, I get this funny feeling in my nose."

"All the time?"

He nodded.

"Should've learned how to drive."

He scoffed, "Bye, Melody," and left me.

"Melody!" I heard from behind me. It was Becky. She ran toward me and grabbed my trunk, "Let's go! Draco already got us a compartment... oy, this thing is _heavy_. What did you put in it?"

I laughed, "My mom insisted on buying me birthday presents. Along with the four books on the list for this year, she got me seven more to read. Thought I'd enjoy them, and most of the books are on divination."

She snorted.

I smiled, giving a free hand to help her with my trunk while in my other hand I held on to Bodoujn.

We reached the compartment, the boys were already sitting there looking bored.

"Greg, Vincent," I said, "Could you put my trunk up? It's a little heavy for Becky and I."

They nodded dumbly, they both picked up the trunk and put it up easily... without even scrunching up their faces or giving a grunt.

Becky and I traded looks.

"Thank you," I said, sitting down.

"Didn't want to ask me?" Draco asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh no, you're much too precious and important to be told to do such a thing." I said jokingly.

Draco smiled knowingly.

Becky tsked at me, "Don't spoil him further, I think he could've done with a little harsh truth." Then she turned to him and said, "You are a _weak_ little _weasel_."

He scowled, "Well, what about you?"

"I'm a lady, of course I'm not as strong. But, certainly you could do with a little exercise. Women are better at strength in spells and all men are good for is strength in muscles." Becky said, her Cheshire-like grin beaming at him tauntingly.

"Lady my _arse_." Draco deadpanned.

I couldn't help myself as I burst out laughing.

"What's this?" Draco asked triumphantly, "Do we _finally_ have a male winner against the queen of exaggeration?"

I stopped laughing to say, "Hey, don't make me a part of this, I couldn't help it. These battles you have are between the two of you, and I will not be dragged into it. It's just that your reaction to what she said amuses _me_."

Becky and Draco snorted.

A short while later the train began moving and the boys left to go harass students, like always. Becky and I took out our _Monster Books_ to try finding a way to open them.

"Ugh, I don't _understand_ these books. We'll never get them opened." I said.

"Hmm... what if we were to take a long board and just hit them until they open?"

Suddenly we heard a whine from the books, seemingly of fear. Becky took the leather binding off of hers and it opened for her instantly.

"Would you look at that?" she said with a big smile, "Looks like these books _can_ be reasonable."

I looked at where it opened to. "I'm pretty sure that's not chapter one, though."

Becky looked toward it and bent her head down close to read it aloud. "'The Limax is a legless creature, with four arms and the lower body of a serpent. It is taller than Humans, and it is capable of using man-made tools- ah!" At that moment, the book slammed shut, and Becky was lucky she moved away quickly.

"That _thing_ almost bit my _nose_ off!" she said in shock.

I held my hand to my mouth, trying not to laugh. I'd never seen her look so indignant about something. When I got a hold of myself, I said, "I guess we're still looking for a way to open these books. Maybe a spell will work?"

"Possibly..." Becky said softly, glaring at her book. "I don't feel like giving any more tries. This is a book that does _not_ deserve to be read."

This time I let out a small chuckle, "_Every_ book deserves to be read. It's just that this one doesn't _want_ you to read it."

Becky crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Well hey, it let us learn one thing."

"What?" Draco asked, coming back in with Vincent and Greg with an annoyed expression.

"Not to trust these darned books. It almost bit my nose off!" Becky said huffily.

"Yeah, put her nose _right_ in it to read the page it opened to." I said.

Draco didn't even try to stop himself. He laughed so loud, I was sure people at the other end of the train could hear him. "Who's the idiot now, Becky, huh? Who is the idiot now, oh smart drama queen?"

"Shut _up_! And what the hell are you talking about?" Becky asked irritably.

"Last year? When I put my finger in front of that Mandrake and it bit me? You just put your _nose_ in that _Monster Book_ and you're complaining that it attacked you. And you called _me_ an idiot."

Becky scoffed at him.

As they continued heckling each other, I thought over what the book opened to. Was it a coincidence? Was her book telling me something? _Oh, calm down Melody,_ I thought to myself, _This is a free year. No dad; Voldemort or Tom memory. Just a normal year with my friends. Stop worrying. But... Limax? Part serpent? Hmm..._

Looking outside, I finally noticed it was raining and looked like it had been doing so for a while. It had become so dark with rain clouds outside, that the lanterns were on.

The train started to slow down.

"Thank heavens!" Becky said, with a glare at Draco. "This time, Melody and I are going to sit far away from you in both carriages _and_ dining hall."

"Why do you take it so personally when I call you an idiot? I don't when you –"

"We can't be there _yet, _it's too soon." I said, looking out the window. "I don't even see the school yet."

"Then why are we stopping?" Draco asked.

"What makes you think either of us knows the answer to that?" Becky asked him back.

"I don't _know_, oh _smart_ ones." Draco said.

"Well, we aren't _all-knowing_."

"Oh, really. Silly me to think so when you seem to make it so."

"Sorry to interrupt," I said, "But you should all sit down if we're about to stop."

Indeed, all four were standing. Becky and Draco had been face-to-face while Vincent and Greg stayed off to the side. After I said that, I looked out the window and jumped when I thought I saw something pass by our window. I gave a small gasp.

"What is it?" Becky asked.

"There's something –" I was cut off as the train suddenly came to a stop with a jolt, knocking over everyone in our compartment but me. Then all the lamps went out, leaving us in darkness.

"I can't see!" Becky said.

"Ooh, well duh! Neither can I!" Draco said.

"Ouch, one of you kicked my head!"

"I hope that was me."

"Can you guys stop fighting for one _minute_?" I asked, taking out my wand. "_Lumos_."

I looked at all four, all on top of each other on the floor. From top to bottom, it was Draco, Becky, Vincent, and Greg. It was lucky enough that the two biggest were on the bottom of the pile, but it was quite obvious that Draco had kicked Becky as his foot was right in front of her face.

"Get off me!" she spat, throwing him off in one quick movement.

He fell backwards, and I quickly stood up to catch him. He hadn't quite caught his balance, and as I still stood there trying to keep hold of him.

Becky stood up and brushed her hands over her body quickly, as though to get rid of any possible dust particles Draco could give her. Then she sat down next to where I had been sitting and proceeded to ignore Draco.

"Draco, I'm losing strength, surely you haven't lost any in your legs." I said, struggling to keep him up.

"Oh, right, sorry," he said, quickly standing up and taking a seat next to Vincent and Greg, across from where I now collapsed in. Taking a quick look outside, I saw some more movement and wondered about what was going on.

Suddenly, the door slid open and revealed a tall, cloaked figure. Its face was hidden, and there was suddenly a feeling of great dread falling over us. It became extremely cold.

I heard Becky whisper softly, in fright, "A dementor..."

_Oh, no,_ I thought to myself, as it slowly came towards me. Once close enough, its hand came out from beneath the cloak; scabby, gray and glistening.. slimy. I heard a small whimper from someone, whether it was Becky or Draco I didn't know. It touched my forehead, giving me the feeling that a zombie was touching me, and then said, "Be ready for him."

It was gone quicker than it had appeared. The lights were still out, but it wasn't in our compartment anymore.

"I don't think that was a kiss, was it?" I asked. I certainly didn't feel any difference if it did.

"No," Becky said, her voice cracking, "You wouldn't be functioning if it did... what did it do _that_ for?"

I shook my head slowly. "Did – did you hear what it said?"

"Melody, it didn't say anything." Draco said.

"Must be my imagination then... thought it said something. Couldn't hear what it was." I said softly. Couldn't be though, 'be ready for him?' Did dementors work with my dad once? Wouldn't be surprising, gosh they were creepy.

We were in silence until the lanterns turned on and the train started moving again. We all sighed in relief, the darkness had been too tense.

Becky opened the compartment door open to take a look down the corridor. Then she gave a frantic wave to someone.

A man came in; shabby looking and young, with brown hair that was graying.

"Are you the new professor?" Becky asked curiously.

"I am," he said, " I am Professor R. J. Lupin. Do you have something you need to talk to me about?"

"It's Melody –" she began, but I interrupted.

"I'm _fine_, don't worry. I'm clearly not dead or sick."

"Something happen?"

While Becky explained what had happened, I looked out the window. I knew she was only trying to be helpful. She was worried, easily seen, but she didn't have to go to such troubles, nothing drastic happened to me.

"Well, that's an interesting phenomenon."

I turned around, "What do you mean?"

"I'd never heard of dementors doing that... everything else you are explaining, yes, they tend to suck all happiness and warmth out of a room of people, that's their source of food, but that... I'd like to have a talk with you, Melody. Perhaps after your first lesson with me this week."

I shrugged, "Sure."

He took out a couple pieces of chocolate and handed each of us a slice, "Eat this, it'll help."

"Thanks," Becky said, "Urm.. professor? Isn't there some sort of spell that you can cast that wards off dementors?"

"Yes, but that's some very advanced magic. And, in any case, you don't have to worry about them very much. They are protecting Hogwarts from the escaped prizoner and won't harm you under Dumbledore's rule."

"Thank you very much." I said, eating the chocolate and feeling warmth flow all throughout my body afterwards. Looks like chocolate is good for _something_.

"Your welcome. Now, I'm going up front to talk to the driver, so excuse me."

When he left, I turned to Becky and said, "You didn't _have _to tell him about that... well, in any case, now let's just not tell anybody. That was really odd, even to him and he _knows_ about these creatures."

"Yes I did, otherwise we'd all still be feeling cold and unhappy without this chocolate, not knowing this to be the cure."

"And besides," Draco added, "Something could've happened when it touched you. What if its hand was poisonous?"

"The hand may be dead, but if it was poisonous I'd have ended up on the ground probably_ twitching_ to death." I said, and then added to Becky, "Hey, he just agreed with you. This calls for celebration." She scowled.

Suddenly a Gryffindor boy came into our compartment, "Did anyone in here faint?"

"No, why the question _Longbottom_?" Draco sneered.

"A dementor came into our compartment, and Harry Potter fainted." As soon as Neville Longbottom said that, he slapped his mouth with his hand. He hadn't meant to share that to Draco of all people, Harry Potter's arch-nemesis. They _loathed_ each other.

Draco was delighted to hear this, and before he could say anything Neville scuttled away from us as quickly as possible.

"Ooh hoo hoo, _yes_. Something to get him for."

"So long as Harry's got all the attention, I'd just rather for nobody else to know about the dementor coming into our compartment and doing... whatever that was it did." I said.

Everyone in the compartment nodded in consent.

"That professor..." Draco noted, "He was in the compartment with Potter when we went there earlier. I'll guess he was very helpful to Potter when he _fainted_."

I gave a small nod and looked out the window. Harry couldn't possibly have fainted because he was scared of the thing, the dementor must have done something. Harry never fainted at the sight of Voldemort, or when a Basilisk was after him, and those were the most terrifying things he's ever faced. Now the dementors...

When the train stopped again some time later, we got off of the train and when Draco spotted Harry and his friends walking ahead of us he followed in pursuit. We got into the carriage behind them.

Pulling the carriages were these creatures called thestrals, the odd thing about them was that nobody could see them except those who'd seen death, including me.

They kind of had the skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse with great leathery wings; blank, white, shining eyes; a dragon-like face; and long, black manes.

"This will be _great_!" Draco said excitedly.

"I'm sure it will be," I said vaguely, knowing Draco was going to want to go make fun of Harry. "And while you have your fun, Becky and I will go on in to the Great Hall. I'll save you three seats."

"Thanks, Mel," Draco said.

I looked up at him in surprise, and then said in amusement, "I see I got a nickname now."

"Yeah," he said, looking down at his hands. I couldn't see his face, but for some reason I had the odd feeling that he was blushing.

I gave a small nod, "I like it."

Draco gave a small smile. Becky, on the other hand, said to me, "I'm still going to call you Melody. Do you mind?" She sounded sarcastic.

"No," I said with a small smile. Then I asked her in a small whisper, "Are you _jealous_?"

"No," she muttered softly, "He just really pushes my buttons."

I wrapped my arms around her in a hug, and innocently asked her, "Do I push your buttons?"

Becky gave a small laugh and hugged me back, "_No_. You're the _best_ bud in the whole wide world."

I smiled and, still hugging her, looked out the window to see we were driving through the gate. Guarding the way in were dementors, and I didn't feel very safe around those creatures. They may be at the school to protect, but they were not good on nerves.

Once inside the Great Hall, Becky and I took a seat, waiting for Draco and all the other students to come in and sit down. I'd never been in early before. Our first year, we were all let in last for our sorting, whether into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. My second year, Professor Snape had to talk to me about my tutoring abilities. He'd probably tell me about that at some point.

Speaking of Professor Snape, there he was at the teacher's table. One look at me and I could tell he wanted to talk to me.

I did some hand motions and mouthed, _After feast_? He nodded.

"I'll have to wait for tomorrow," Draco whispered, sitting in next to me, opposite to Becky's side.

"Why?" I asked, not bothering to ask him why he sat next to me now.

Vincent and Greg sat across from us as he said, "Professor Lupin keeps on appearing wherever they are. Like he's a bodyguard."

"Huh.." I said softly, "Well, he's their bodyguard for today then. He can't follow them everywhere during the year."

Draco nodded, and Becky harrumphed.

"You have something on your mind, Becky?" Draco asked her, obviously amused.

She didn't answer him.

"She's set on ignoring me I see. I could get used to that." Draco said with a smile.

"Don't be so certain," I said, looking at her angered expression, her face had gone very red. "She may be ignoring you, but she knows she can do so much more damage."

"She wouldn't dare do anything to me."

I gave him a coy smile, "Really?"

Before he could respond, Professor McGonagall came in with the first years to be sorted. It wasn't all that interesting of a time at the feast, perhaps in terms of who would be joining the Slytherin table but.. otherwise we ignored it.

After the sorting, Professor Dumbledore stood up to talk. Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was very old, but energetic, had long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and a crooked nose. He beamed at everybody, giving the whole Great Hall a calm down in nerves from the fright the dementors gave _everyone_.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..." he cleared his throat.

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

He paused, not at all pleased with the news he gave. "They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility Cloaks. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors.

"On a happier note," Professor Dumbledore continued with a smile, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

While there was a bit of scattered applause, some more enthusiastic from the Gryffindor table, I couldn't help but notice Professor Snape's look of pure hatred toward Professor Lupin. Now, there _ought_ to be a story behind that besides his hope for getting that specific job.

Professor Lupin hadn't noticed, and then one could see why no one was very excited to have him as teacher. He was very shabby compared to the other teachers.

Professor Dumbledore continued, "As to our second new appointment. Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

The Gryffindor table burst into applause. I turned to Draco who was absolutely disgusted by this.

"You have any other classes you want to switch to?" I asked.

He shook his head slowly, "Wish I did. How could –"

"I think this is great," Becky said, "He will be a great teacher. He knows so much about magical creatures from his work on the grounds. He'll be perfect."

Draco did not know how to respond to her. Not that she wanted him to.

"Well," said Professor Dumbledore, "I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"

The tables were then covered with a lot of different food on the golden plates and in the golden goblets that were empty not a second before. I filled my plate with as much as I knew I would be able to eat. I hadn't realized just how hungry I'd been.

After the feast, I said, "I'll catch up with you later. I have to talk to Professor Snape."

"I'll come with." Becky said instantly.

"You sure you want to?" I asked.

She nodded, and actually walked ahead of me. I gave a small shrug to Draco and followed. Professor Snape met up with us and walked to his office.

"Miss Figsund... what are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd accompany you and Melody," she said innocently, "Besides, _I_ think she shouldn't walk around the school without someone."

I looked at her. "What, do you think a dementor is going to suddenly come in the school and take me away?"

She looked down at her feet as we walked.

"Oh my God, you do."

Professor Snape looked at us with a small air of confusion and said, "I need to speak with Miss Riddle alone, so if you would kindly wait out in the hallway."

Becky nodded as we reached his office.

She waited outside while Professor Snape and I walked inside and he closed the door behind us.

I sat down in front of his desk and watched him as he sat down behind his desk.

"So, is this about my tutoring schedule?" I asked him curiously.

"It is," he said, taking out a small pile of papers. "Here are a few second years and a new first year if you want to tutor them along with Draco."

I looked at the pile. "Do I choose the students or..."

"I am just wondering if you want to tutor more students. I'm allowing no more than five this year, and here are four students that _desperately_ need the extra help. The new first year, so I'd been told by his parents, doesn't do very well in classes. He's muggleborn, so that's how they know, because he had a lot of difficulty in regular school." Professor Snape said.

"They can't possibly know he won't do well here," I said, "I did terribly in muggle school, and now look at how I've been doing."

"They said he wouldn't touch the books they got for him... _and_ that any tutors they had gotten for him in muggle school gave up because he just wouldn't try. He also played numerous pranks on them. I thought perhaps you could try."

I listened and looked at him in shock. "You're asking _me_ to try? Surely for a student like that, you would entrust him to someone more experienced."

"Don't be so humble," Professor Snape said, "I trust you more than the tutors that are older than you. You've done so well with Mr. Malfoy, and not only that but you at least _tried_ to tutor Crabbe and Goyle."

"Yes, and then I stopped tutoring them because they wouldn't try. What makes you think I'd be able to help this kid out?"

"I believe in you." Professor Snape said seriously.

He surprised me. I couldn't think of anything else to say except for, "All right then. I accept all four students. When would I tutor them."

"I've decided to allow you some free time during the week, the only one you have to tutor during the week is Draco. On Sundays, however, I will give you a set time to tutor all three of the second years. On Saturdays, you have your class time with me, and then after that you will tutor the first year." Professor Snape said, and then handed me the pile. "Here is their information, your homework for the week is to read up on them and then go talk to them to set a time for your tutoring sessions."

"Thanks..." I said, and then my curiosity on another matter overtook me. "I – um – couldn't help noticing you really hate Professor Lupin."

He looked at me as though contemplating something, and then he asked me, "Have you ever heard the term 'curiosity killed the cat?'"

"Yes..." I said, and then when he gave a nod I laughed. "Okay, if it's going to be _that_ way I'll leave it alone then. It's just that you shouldn't keep all your hate bubbled in and hidden, well not really hidden but, in any case it's better to talk about it so your insides don't fester and rot."

He looked at me in surprise, and before he could say anything I asked, "What's the password to the common room?"

He sighed, "Knights."

"Thank you. Good night, professor." I said, walking out of his office and going back to the common room with Becky.

"What did he want?" she asked.

I pointed to the pile of papers in my hand, "New students to tutor."

"How many?" she asked.

"Including Draco... five."

"Are you going to have _any_ free time?"

"Yes, now some of them are on Sunday and Saturday. Draco is still at some point during the week, but I still have free time."

We reached the entrance to the common room, a great blank wall. I said, "Knights," and it opened up for us. We went straight to our dormitory to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

At breakfast the next day, Becky and I went downstairs to find a bunch of the Slytherins sitting around Draco. He was _entertaining_ them with what seemed to be a really funny story. Becky and I stood there watching him talking to them.

"He's randomly become very popular." I muttered to Becky softly.

Draco did a very ridiculous looking impression of a swooning fit and the Slytherins burst out laughing.

Pansy Parkinson, one of our roommates in the Slytherin dormitories, called out, "Hey, Potter! Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! _Woooooooo!_"

Harry Potter was walking to his seat and obviously trying hard to ignore her.

I would, too. She never talked to Becky or me, and her face looked to be that of a pug. As Draco continued, I noticed her look at him as though he was the most amazing person in the world.

"I bet she wishes she could snog him," Becky whispered to me.

We both giggled uncontrollably and sat down far away from the group to eat.

Professor Snape came and handed our schedules to us, going down the table and giving them to the large group of Slytherins. First on the list for the day for Becky and I was Transfiguration, next was Study of Ancient Runes.

"I can't wait to see how Ancient Runes will be." I told Becky excitedly.

She nodded her agreement enthusiastically. "I think I'll enjoy that class best seeing as we don't have to share it with Draco," she said, giving a side-long glance to him. "I think we'll soon be people that 'were' his friends."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at her from the schedule.

She pointed at the group of Slytherins dramatically, "_Look_ at this! He's enjoying the attention. Everybody is listening to him, enjoying what he's saying, whereas with us he gets insults... well, with me he gets insults. He'll probably enjoy ignoring me for the rest of the year, but I don't know about you."

I rolled my eyes. "I certainly don't goggle at him like he's some sort of _god_ though. Pansy has taken quite a new fancy to him, didn't know it was possible given her qualities."

Becky chuckled, "I know, right? If she were an animal, she'd be a pug."

I laughed, "Too true." _Her animagus would be a pug_, I thought with a big smile.

We went to Transfiguration without the boys, who went with Millicent and Pansy hanging around Draco. They'd paid attention to him before this but not so much.

For our first lesson of the year, to my surprise, Professor McGonagall spoke to us about Animagi. What surprised the whole class the most was when she transformed into a tabby cat in front of our eyes. The distinctive markings that told us it was her were the spectacle markings around her eyes.

We all applauded, even Draco surprisingly, it was a fascinating subject.

"When would we be able to do that?" he asked her.

"_That_ is really complicated magic Mr. Malfoy. It would be a surprise if any one of you could do it."

Professor Snape walked in just then, "Ah, but one can," he said with a sly smile.

Professor McGonagall looked at him with an air of surprise, "Oh, _really_ now? Who?"

He nodded to me, "Miss Riddle."

Professor McGonagall looked at me and beckoned me to the front of the class. "I'd like to see your Animagus. It is really quite a feat that you are an Animagi."

"I became one as a first year," I said softly, wishing the professors hadn't put me in the spotlght. "Professor Snape had told me not to turn into one, so I haven't done so since then."

"Don't worry dear, no one ever loses their ability." Professor McGonagall said.

I gave a faint smile and nodded. With a faint _pop_ I was now in front of the classroom as a cobra. It had been so long since I'd been one that my new instincts were a surprise to me. Everyone in the classroom gasped, just as my mom had when she first saw what my form was.

Everyone applauded and I turned back into myself, sitting down next to Becky and watching as Professor Snape left the room. What had he done _that_ for?

"Why didn't you _tell_ me you were an Animagi?" Becky said, with a small punch to my arm.

"Professor Snape, Quirrell and my mom made me _swear_ not to tell anybody else _or_ go slithering around the castle and grounds in that form. Really dreadful though, learning something new and not being able to use it."

"That was brilliant," Draco whispered as Professor McGonagall continued on with the lesson. I realized that he was talking to me for the first time that day. "When's our tutoring lesson start?"

"I was thinking next week," I said, "And it can be during any one of our free times."

He smiled, "_Great_."

Becky rolled her eyes.

"Talking to me yet?" he asked her.

Again, she ignored him.

After Transfiguration, the boys, Millicent, and Pansy went off to their Arithmancy class. Becky and I went to Study of Ancient Runes, wondering to ourselves who we'd have the class with considering we were the only two Slytherin third years taking it.

We were the first in the classroom along with the teacher who looked up and smiled at us. She was a very stout witch, short with gray hair down at her ears.

"Hello there. Take a seat, take a seat, my first two students in class. Here I'll start role-call now." She brought over her clipboard and a quill and asked, "Names?"

"Becky Figsund."

"Uh-huh, ah your brother is in my class. You have some expectations to live up to with him."

Becky nodded, looking a little annoyed.

Her brother I'd only ever once before, it was one time I went over to her house. His name was Joey and he was in Ravenclaw. He really rubbed it in their parents' face when Becky was put in Slytherin instead of Ravenclaw. But... even though she _was_ in Slytherin, she still did very well, like me, and so she wasn't in trouble for it.

"And you?" the professor asked me sweetly.

"Melody Riddle."

"Ah, both of you are my only two Slytherins in the class. This is always a very uneven class. We have just one Gryffindor coming in and all the Ravenclaws."

Becky and I traded glances and the professor scuttled to the door to invite students in.

Indeed, a bunch of Ravenclaws came into the classroom and sat as far away from the two of us as possible. The one Gryffindor came in last, turning out to be Hermione, and had to sit next to either me or Becky as all other seats were taken. She came to sit next to me and we gave each other small smiles that no one else noticed. We were friends, only three of the Weasleys and Harry Potter knew this.

"Hello class," the professor said, beaming at us as she looked around the room. "Welcome to the Study of Ancient Runes, I am Professor Bathsheda Babbling and will be teaching you until the day you leave Hogwarts. I hope this class was the right pick for you."

The Ravenclaws all took small glances at Becky and I, as though hoping it wouldn't be the right pick for us and we'd leave. In fact, that's exactly what they were thinking, I could hear their thoughts.

"Now for our first lesson," Professor Babbling said, not noticing all that was happening, "We are starting on Ancient Rune numbers. There are specific creatures that represent certain numbers. Turn to page three in your books and follow along."

There was rustling as everyone got their copies of _Ancient Runes Made Easy_ out and turned to page three.

Professor Babbling read:

Demiguise: the creature's invisibility represents "0".

Unicorn: the creature's single horn represents "1".

Graphorn: the creature's dual horms represent "2".

Runespoor: the triple-headed creature represents "3".

Fwooper: the creature comprised of four different colours in feathers represents "4".

Quintaped: the five legs of the creature represents "5".

Salamander: the maximum hours of the creature's ability to survive out of fire and the amount of legs most said creatures have represents "6".

Unknown: due to the magically powerful number still being shrouded in mysteries, the unknown symbol represents "7".

Acromantula: the eight-eyed creature represents "8".

Hydra: the nine-headed creature represents "9".

"There are many more numbers," Professor Babbling said, "But you get the picture with these nine... and, as we'd read, the number seven is unknown because it is _greatly_ covered with mysteries. _Why_ is this?"

Literally everyone raised their hands. Honestly, this class was going to be very odd, but it was very interesting already.

"Oh," Professor Babbling said in surprise. This must've been new to her. She looked over at me and decided, "Miss Riddle."

I heard groans from all the other Ravenclaws and a sigh from Hermione as I said, "Because anywhere from the classical age to today, seven stands for a lot of different wonders of the world. A couple examples would be the Seven Liberal Arts or the Seven Wise Masters."

"Yes, yes," Professor Babbling said excitedly, "And ten points to Slytherin for those examples. They are not in the book, but they are very true. It is an _amazing_ feat how in history we came across so many different things adding up to seven. How is it that so many parts of history come up to seven? I can tell you this, it was _not_ on purpose."

We all laughed.

Becky was the first to raise her hand, after her everyone else came, caught off guard being more set on the professor's last word.

Professor Babbling nodded to her. Becky said, sounding fairly superior, "No one knows why the number seven shows up everywhere in history. In some way, the number seven could be either a curse or a gift – a lucky charm."

The professor was very excited.

At the end of class, Becky and I walked to the Great Hall and Hermione walked along with us.

"How did you know those examples?" she asked me.

"I went to a muggle library and searched for something... I like to come extra prepared." I said with a laugh, remembering Uncle Gerald's simple spoken knowledge. It was always funny how he reacted to me, and yet he'd been in Ravenclaw.

Hermione didn't seem at all frightened of how Becky would treat her, which surprised me when she said. "I remember you, but I didn't quite get your name."

Becky smiled, "I'm Becky Figsund, and don't worry, I know _your_ name."

We laughed.

"Let's not tell Draco about this," Becky whispered to me, "I _like_ her."

I saw Hermione smile, she heard.

"Yup, in fact I should probably tell you something." I said, explaining to her that I'd continued to see her through the years in the library. "I didn't want to tell you, considering we were now Slytherins _and_ friends with Draco."

"Just bring me next time you go to the library, I _want_ to join you for 'studying.'"

Hermione and I giggled.

We separated to go to our tables. While I ate, I took out the information of the four students. For the second years it was two Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw, for the first year he had just been placed in Hufflepuff. When I looked at the names, I almost spit out my iced tea.

"What is it?" Becky asked.

"Why... the two second year Gryffindors I'm tutoring... one is Ginny Weasley and the other is Colin Creevey."

"_What_?" Becky asked in surprise, looking at the papers. The year before, Colin Creevey had been one of the students petrified by the Basilisk I let out for Tom Riddle (though everyone thought I was controlled, too), and Ginny Weasley's mind had been under control of Tom Riddle.

"Well," I said sarcastically, "That makes me feel _so_ much better."

"Oh, calm down, you hadn't been yourself last year. What's the name of the Ravenclaw and first year students?"

"Um, Ravenclaw is Luna Lovegood and the Hufflepuff first year is Anthony Otterburn. So this is the student that Professor Snape said I would have difficulty with."

"He said that and yet put him in your care?" Becky asked dubiously.

I nodded, "I didn't understand it either, but there you have it."

"What's this?" Draco asked, coming to sit next to me.

I put the pile together and placed it as a bookmark in one of my schoolbooks, "The students I'm tutoring this year... I teach the first year student on Saturday and the second year students on Sunday, now for you we have to come to a decision as to our tutor hours. Which free time do you want to me to tutor you in?"

"Whenever we have the time. I'm thinking it can be whenever we're in the common room."

I smiled, "Gives us a lot of extra time of studying together then. Are you sure?"

"Quite sure."

Suddenly, Pansy rudely scooched in between Draco and I and started talking to him as if Becky and I weren't there. "This will be a great year, don't you think? There are so many possibilities that we could win the Quidditch Cup this year and –" blah blah blah, she blabbered on and on and on. What she was saying certainly wasn't my idea of a perfect year, and absolutely not with those dementors prowling around.

Becky and I traded glances.

"I believe we have been kicked out of existence." Becky whispered to me.

I nodded and then looked at the time. "We should go to Care of Magical Creature's now, it's nearly time."

We stood up, but before we left Becky went back to Draco.

Pansy continued talking to Draco as if she weren't there. Draco wasn't paying attention to Becky, which gave her great advantage as I tried to hold in my laughs. She moved her head in next to their ears and yelled, "_Time to go_!"

While Draco and Pansy looked at her with shocked looks on their faces, she skipped away towards me and we left the Great Hall.

I burst out laughing once we were out of earshot, "That was _brilliant_."

"Did you see their faces?" Becky asked, imitating their looks of horror.

"And he thought you would never talk to him again. Bummer for him."

"Oh, I won't, that wasn't talking, that was shouting a warning a bell." Becky said. "I almost thought you would be reprimanding me for that."

"Gosh no, don't want them to be late for class now would we? This will probably be _their_ least favorite class just because Professor Hagrid is teaching it... hopefully he'll be able to tell us how to open these darn books so we can read the thing for next time."

Becky nodded, "I sure hope so, too. I _really_ don't want a book that'll chew me up any chance it gets."

We got to Professor Hagrid's hut just a short bit before the other Slytherins did. The sky was a clear, pale gray and the grass was damp from the rain the night before.

Pansy and Millicent stood together, finally away from Draco, so the boys came over to us and talked excitedly. They couldn't wait to see Professor Hagrid teach us, believing it would surely be so stupid. I argued against how unreasonable they were being, but Becky continued in ignoring Draco.

We could see the Gryffindors coming in the distance, but most everyone chose to ignore them as they came closer.

"I thought you were talking to me again?" Draco asked amusedly.

I smiled, "Talking is different from alarming."

"She scared us out of our wits!"

Laughing, I said, "That was her point. I did tell you that though she wasn't talking to you, she would think of something worse to do with you."

"I could tell my father on her." Draco said with a mischievous look.

"I honestly don't think she'd care." I said. "But, don't you worry, she won't do anything _drastic_ to _you_."

"How are you so sure?"

"What am _I_ here for?" I asked him.

Professor Hagrid spoke before he could answer, "C'mom, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

We followed him to around the edge of the trees of the Forbidden Forest to find ourselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there that we could see, though, so I wondered lightly if this was some sort of invisible animal.

Professor Hagrid called to us, "Everyone gather 'round the fence here! That's it – make sure yeh can see – now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books –"

"How?" Draco asked boldly.

"Eh?" the professor asked in surprise.

"How do we open our books?" he asked, holding up his which he'd ever taken out when we were on the train and now I saw that he'd bound it with rope. When all the rest took theirs out, there were a few others who bound theirs with leather, some with belts, and other clamped them together with binder clips.

"Hasn' – hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Professor Hagrid asked, crestfallen.

Everyone shook their heads.

He made it seem so obvious, "Yeh've got ter _stroke_ 'em. Look –"

Hermione was nearby, and so he took her book and ripped off the Spellotape she bound it with. The book tried biting him, but he ran his forefinger down its spine, the book then shivered and fell open to lay quietly in his hand.

Draco sneered at this, "Oh, how silly we've all been. We should have _stroked_ them! Why didn't we guess!"

I felt he was going a bit far. He'd never done so much as an insult to a teacher even, and this was far too much. Rubeus Hagrid's first day teaching and Draco just had to do something to make it worse.

Professor Hagrid looked to Hermione very uncertainly now, "I – I thought they were funny."

"Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," I heard Harry say softly.

Professor Hagrid continued, "Righ' then, so – so yeh've got yer books an' – an' – now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on..." He walked away into the forest, out of our sight, and we stood there waiting.

Draco then decided to say, fairly loud, "God, this place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him –"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated, much louder this time.

"Careful, Potter, there's a dementor behind you –"

Draco was cut off by Lavender Brown, a Gryffindor, pointing toward the opposite site of the paddock and squealing an, "Oooooooh!"

Professor Hagrid brought trotting toward us the most magnificent creatures I'd ever seen. I hadn't been able to open the book of course, but my family had told me about them. Hippogriffs. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horse, but the front lets, wings, and heads of large eagles. They had sharp, steel-colored beaks and eyes of brilliant orange. Their talons we long and sharp; fairly deadly looking. Each one the professor brought had a thick collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, all the ends of which were in the professor's hands.

"Gee up, there!" he shouted, shaking the chains in order to urge the creatures toward the fence where we stood. Every one of us drew back slightly as they reached us and Professor Hagrid tether them to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" he said happily, no longer nervous. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Each hippogriff's feathers were a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.

Professor Hagrid looked very happy, "So, if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer –"

No one really wanted to as far as I could see.

"This is _so_ stupid," Draco whispered to us. I strained my ears to hear the Professor and Becky continued to ignore Draco, so he turned and whispered to Vincent and Greg instead.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer a hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowd ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.

"Right – who wants ter go first?"

Most everyone backed up in answer to that. The hippogriffs didn't seem to like being tethered to the fence in such a way, and they still looked quite terrifying.

"No one?" Professor Hagrid asked with a pleading look on his face.

Then, "I'll do it," said Harry. He climbed over the paddock fence.

"Good man, Harry!" Professor Hagrid said happily. "Right then – let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

The professor untied one of the chains, attached to the gray hippogriff, and pulled it away from the others, slipping off its leather collar as well. "Easy, now, Harry," he said quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much... Tha's it. That's it, Harry... now, bow..."

Harry bowed, still looking at Buckbeak the hippogriff. Buckbeak, however, didn't move.

Professor Hagrid sounded worried as he said, "Ah. Right – back away, now, Harry, easy does it –"

Before he could, the hippogriff bent its scaly front knees and sank into a bow.

The professor was overly ecstatic, "Well done, Harry! Right – yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Harry slowly walked over to Buckbeak and patted the beak several times.

The class broke into applause except for Draco, Vincent, and Greg.

"What's the matter?" I asked them. "You look so disappointed."

"The _thing_ didn't attack him." Draco said, looking depressed.

My eyes narrowed, but Draco wasn't looking at me, he was looking back at Harry in shock. Harry had mounted Buckbeak and was now flying around the paddock. When it landed, Harry looked as though he'd been having trouble holding on as he sat up straight again.

It looked like fun...

"Good work, Harry!" Professor Hagrid shouted over everyone's applause. The only people not clapping were Draco, Vincent, and Greg. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

While everyone went to the different hippogriffs, Becky and I went for the black one once the professor untied each and every one. The inky black one was a bit irritable, fluffing its feathers.

"Would you like to go first, or shall I?" I asked Becky.

"I will," she said with determination.

I stood back while she stood there and made eye contact with the hippogriff. When she bowed, I held my breath while the hippogriff watched her warily. Becky raised her head to face it, and then it bent down in a bow. Becky went up to pet its beak.

"Brilliant," she said, turning to face me while still petting the hippogriff.

Professor Hagrid came over to us and beamed happily at Becky. "Now tha' there is Stormswift. She's a difficult one to please, tha' one. Yer the first she's let touch her."

"Really?" Becky asked excitedly.

"Well, aren't you one-of-a-kind?" I asked her with a smile. "Good thing I didn't go first then. Stormswift would probably behead me before I touched her."

He laughed, "Nah, they are not _tha_' aggressive."

Did he just _laugh_? From something _I_ said? Something happened, he's never been so nice... oh, wait, he's a professor... ah, but Professor Snape doesn't act nice to Harry Potter so no that's not an option.

"This is very easy," we heard Draco say loudly.

I froze. "_What_ is he doing?" I asked, just loud enough for Becky and Professor Hagrid to hear.

He continued, "I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you, you great ugly brute?"

Professor Hagrid hurried over to Draco as Buckbeak, the hippogriff the boys had gone up to after Harry got off, swiped his talons at Draco and Draco was on the ground screaming bloody hell. The professor wrestled Buckbeak into his collar.

Once at Draco, who lay curled in the grass with blood all over his robes, he turned him over to get at his wound.

"I'm dying!" Draco shouted hysterically. The whole class panicked, and Becky and I were watching, just frozen in place near Stormswift. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" the professor said, his face white. What a horrible first day for him. "Someone help me – gotta get him outta here –"

Professor Hagrid picked Draco (whimpering) up with ease and ran to the gate, held open by Hermione, speeding up to the castle. We all followed behind him at a slow pace, most of the Slytherins were shouting angrily about the professor. All except Becky and I who walked behind everyone at a slow pace, staying quiet.

"They should fire him straight away!" Pansy said, crying.

"It was Malfoy's fault!" a Gryffindor boy, Dean Thomas, snapped at her.

"For once, I'm agreeing with a Gryffindor against Draco." Becky whispered to me. "He so deserves it."

I nodded.

We climbed the stone steps into the entrance hall, empty at the moment for classes.

We heard Pansy say, "I'm going to see if he's okay!" and watched her as she ascended the marble staircase.

"I'm not following." Becky said.

"Me neither," I mumbled, going to the dungeons to the common room.

Vincent and Greg came up behind us, following us all the way. I certainly felt like they were guarding us.

"When should we go up to see Malfoy?" Greg asked.

"What a stupid question," Becky muttered so only the three of us could hear her. "After the idiotic thing he did, he doesn't deserve any visitors, though he's getting one from Pansy – _don't_ crack your knuckles at me! You try throwing me anywhere with your muscles, and I will hex you and leave you in Snape's classroom until he finds you."

They had indeed cracked their knuckles, but once she threatened them, they kept their hands behind their backs and followed us silently. The only other looks out of them were at me with the message of 'help!' but, I wasn't feeling up to it, _they_ hadn't been listening either when Professor Hagrid said not to insult a hippogriff.

Draco didn't come to common room or to dinner that night. Pansy told all the Slytherins that Madam Pomfrey cleaned him up, but he was still complaining about it being painful.

"Oh, _please_," Becky scrutinized, only to me and the boys though, who still followed us around. "I remember last year when Harry Potter got deboned because Gilderoy Lockhart made a little mistake. She regrew his bones overnight. _One scratch_ is not worse than that."

I nodded, surprised she even remembered that... or even admitted that Lockhart had made a mistake when he thought he could put the bones back together. She'd _adored_ Lockhart.

"Speaking of Lockhart, how is he?" she asked.

"Last I heard, he was doing okay, though a bit confused as to why he was in a hospital. My mom said he was complaining about being in the hospital when there was 'nothing wrong with him.'" I said.

"Why _are_ they keeping him in there? If they can't help him get his memory back, then he should try to get back into society and be a citizen."

"It's permanent because there's no possible way he'll remember everything about himself in his life within a short time. The best place for him is the hospital where he's not so much of a danger to himself and others."

"Such a shame..." Becky said softly, "That happening to him. The _amazing_ –"

"Don't _even_ continue that." I said.

Before she could respond, Professor Snape came over to us and announced, "One of you four should bring some food up to Mr. Malfoy. I will trust that whoever does it will not poison him and will continue to do it until he is out of the hospital wing."

Becky snorted.

Professor Snape looked away from her to me, obviously counting Vincent and Greg out possibly because they would be clumsy in the acts.

I sighed, "I suppose I will."

He nodded and then walked away.

"Poison him," Becky whispered.

"_No,_" I said, taking an empty plate and piling it with all of Draco's favorite food. Standing up, I added, "Might as well dig myself my own grave instead of poison the son of a very _powerful_ man."

Becky laughed as I left.

Upstairs in the hospital wing, I came in and was instantly stopped by Madam Pomfrey. "Something wrong, dear?"

"Uh, no, I'm bringing dinner for Draco."

"Ah, yes, the poor dear, he's over there" Madam Pomfrey pointed over to a bed where Draco lay. I could faintly hear his moaning from across the room.

"Thank you," I said, making my way over to him.

Draco's arm was bandaged, lying right beside him, and he looked up at me. His expression was a mixture of pain (I couldn't tell if it was fake or not) and bravery. He smiled.

For some reason, I couldn't make myself to yell at him. I just smiled back at him and said, "Can you feed yourself or will I have to?"

He gave a soft laugh. "Would it be too much to ask for you to?"

I shook my head and took a seat next to his bed. In feeding him, he seemed to look more and more smug as I did so. I thought of Pansy.

"I saw Pansy run up here soon after class."

"Yeah, she was here for a minute and then was forced to go back to the common room. She really wanted to be here... but, neither you nor Becky came. And Crabbe and Goyle –"

"– were following Becky and I around because they don't like going places on their own." I finished for him, finally deciding I should tell him. "That was really stupid, insulting the hippogriff."

He looked at me in shock. "You're telling me this when I was the _victim _of that thing?"

"Draco, it only scratched you because you _insulted _it. And if you had been _listening_ to Professor Hagrid telling us not to do that, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. You think you know everything, but you don't, he was actually being a very good teacher. Now that you've butted in with that little fiasco, who knows what will happen next in that class?" I said.

"Hagrid's an oaf –"

"That may be so from your point of view, but he is a _teacher _now. Some respect for him wouldn't go amiss."

Draco scowled, "You're no Slytherin. If you were, you'd be on my side in this, like Pansy."

Somehow, that hurt.

"Huh, really? Becky's on my side, didn't you know? In any case, Pansy might be noticing you this year but Becky and I have been friends with you for_ two years_. And, if you haven't noticed, I brought you food, if Becky had it would've been poisoned believe me on that." I said, standing up and storming away from him.

"Mel, wait!" Draco said. "I'm not done talking to you."

"See you tomorrow!" I said, continuing to storm on out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Draco stayed in the hospital wing for Tuesday and Wednesday, for on Wednesday he missed our first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Each time I came in to give him food, I came in secretly and left the food on the side table... of course I couldn't stay mad at him forever, I still had to tutor him.

Vincent, Greg, and Becky and I sat together as we waited for the lesson to start. Professor Lupin was at the front of the room waiting for everyone to come in.

"I wonder what we're doing today," I whispered softly.

"Hopefully nothing," Vincent said, with an agreeing nod from Greg.

"Hopefully _something_," Becky and I said together.

"Good morning," Professor Lupin said with a smile, looking healthier though still fairly shabby. "You don't need your books today, but you will make good use of your wands. Today I am giving you a practical lesson."

Putting all our books in our bags I know all the Slytherins were thinking the same thing. This would be a first for a practical lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Once we were ready, Professor Lupin said, "Right then, if you'd follow me."

We got to our feet and followed him along the deserted corridor, around a corridor, and down a second corridor into the staffroom. He opened it and stepped back while the rest of us walked on in.

Professor Snape was seated in the classroom and stood up when everyone was in the room and Professor Lupin had closed the door behind him. He went over to him and said something in a whisper to him, Professor Lupin went, "Oh really? Well, that's quite amazing, I must say. Well sure..."

"Showing you off again?" Becky whispered softly to me, sniggering.

"He better not be," I said.

"Melody," Professor Lupin called to me. _Of course,_ I thought to myself. "Professor Snape says you have already worked with boggarts before. Is it true?"

Professor Snape glared at him.

I nodded, having learned how to best finish off boggarts the previous year from lessons wth Professor Snape. Suddenly, I heard the wardrobe at the end of the room bang against the wall. "Is that the lesson today?" I asked.

Everyone else's faces were filled with fear at Professor Lupin's, "Yes." He continued teaching the class, using me, "So, let's test your memory of boggarts then. What is a boggart?"

"A shape-shifter that takes the shape of whatever the person in front of it fears most."

"Correct!" Professor Lupin said, beaming, "What else do you know of boggarts?"

"No one knows what a boggart looks like when it is alone, but once seen it instantly takes the shape of whatever we fear the most. But... with a big class like this in front of it, it won't know what shape to take and become confused. What finishes a boggart off is laughter." I said.

"Now, what does your boggart take shape as?"

I raised my eyebrow at him, "I'd rather not say."

"Oh, don't worry, we're all your friends here, tell us and then talk about what you did to the boggart."

I sighed, "It was a zombie... and with the charm that forces it to assume a shape I find amusing, I put a pair of elderly teeth in its mouth that clattered nonstop, the zombie had no control."

Everyone laughed, so I said, "There's the idea of the charm, to laugh at it."

Professor Lupin nodded with a smile, "Five points to Slytherin, and you can go do a lesson with Professor Snape here."

While Professor Lupin and the rest of the class walked over to the wardrobe, Professor Snape gestured for me to sit down in an empty chair a little ways off from the door. He sat in the one next to it.

"Is this going to be a normal happening?" I asked.

"No, I just think it would be best to teach you something else more terrifying than another lesson of zombies for you."

I inwardly rolled my eyes, "All right, so what is it?"

"The Patronus Charm, to ward off dementors."

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him suspiciously, "What did Professor Lupin tell you?"

"He said how worried your friends had been about you when a dementor came into your compartment on the train. I want to teach you how to ward off a dementor, especially considering this should help in terms of the coldness everyone feels around them."

"Hm..." I said thoughtfully, "My friends also said that dementors guard Azkaban."

He nodded, "The best guards that prison has ever had... now, let's start the lesson before this one ends."

We both stood up and Professor Snape said, "The Patronus Charm is a positive force, given how it gives protection from dementors and sends them away if it's strong enough. It is a _very_ advanced piece of magic, so advanced that even qualified wizards have a hard time conjuring it."

"Can you conjure one?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "I can make a corporeal patronus even, meaning that mine takes a shape." Looking back at the other Slytherins, no one was watching so he turned and waved his wand. At the end of his wand came a silver white doe that pranced around us and disappeared.

My eyes widened. "It –"

"For you, if you are able to produce a corporeal patronus will be in the form of a cobra, your Animagus form."

How was his a _doe_? I kept trying to ask him that, but he avoided my attempts.

"The incantation will only work if you concentrate on a single happy memory you have. If it's strong enough, it will force the dementor away. Think of your _happiest _memory."

I gave start, thinking on it. "I don't think I have any..."

Professor Snape actually chuckled, "I'm pretty sure you do. Think about it, about a time that you might even want to _repeat_."

_Well_, I thought to myself,_ I know I've been thinking I wish I hadn't got all caught up with my dad from what happened the past two years. Some time before then... _then a fairly vague memory came into my head. I was with my mom and step dad in America, she had told us she was pregnant and we went out together, enjoying each other's company. "I have something that might work."

"Tell me what it is, in case that's not strong enough," Professor Snape said.

I shook my head with a smile and wagged one of my fingers at him, "Not until you tell me yours."

He scowled, causing me to laugh.

"So, what's the incantation?"

"Expecto patronum."

Concentrating very hard on the memory, suddenly having the same happy feeling as I had on that day, I waved my wand saying, "Expecto patronum," and saw something silvery white sprout out of my wand. It had no form, so I concentrated harder on the memory, giving more power into the spell and it took form of a cobra that slithered around the two of us.

Professor Snape looked at me with strong approval.

Looking over to the class, the students were working with the boggarts but Professor Lupin had his eyes held on me and my patronus. I slithered my patronus over to him and he eyed it with surprise and curiosity.

The patronus went out and when I looked back at Professor Snape, he said, "Extra twenty points to Slytherin, I _told_ you you could do it."

I smiled, "Thank you, professor."

After class, I stayed behind to talk to Professor Lupin having been given the reminder by Becky that he said to talk to him then when we were on the train. Becky, Vincent, and Greg waited outside of the classroom for me.

"Ah, Melody," Professor Lupin said, looking at me with awe, "You are quite the witch."

"You had said I should see you –"

He nodded, cutting me off, "Professor Snape wanted to be here for it as well."

Professor Snape nodded.

"... I just want to say that what happened wasn't that big of a deal. I mean – it didn't give me the kiss – of course – otherwise I would just be an unfeeling person."

"You wouldn't even feel the need to move around, you would sit around doing nothing, but the thing is that it _could_ have. The dementors are very strong on Harry Potter since, if you haven't heard already, he fainted on the train because they feed on him more than anybody else being as he's been through a lot." Professor Lupin said.

"And you have as well," Professor Snape added.

"Okay, so my past two years I have been accidentally caught up in some very evil people but I haven't lost any family members from it... none that I've ever really known too well to care deeply for, anyways."

Professor Lupin looked very confused, "What is going on?"

"For the past two years, at some point in the year, I never know when, I have been 'in the possession' of some evil entity. Whether it be Lord Voldemort or some memory of an evil teenager." I ranted, walking away from them.

"Where are you going?" Professor Snape asked.

"To my next class!" I said, turning around to face them, but continuing to walk backwards. "You can explain to Professor Lupin about these darned incidents that keep happening to me."

The next day during double Potions with the Gryffindors, Draco walked into class late and just about everyone stopped working to watch him. He gave off the aura that he just fought a very heroic battle.

Pansy asked him, "How is it, Draco? Does it hurt much?"

Draco gave her a 'brave' grimace and said, "Yeah." He gave Vincent, Greg, Becky and I winks, though we ignored (except of course Vincent and Greg) him. Draco went over and set his cauldron up next to Harry and Ron.

We were making a Shrinking Solution today, Becky and I were completely engrossed into making ours. Until –

"Orange, Longbottom, orange," I heard Professor Snape say and looked up to see he was by Neville and ladled some of his potion out, letting it fall back into the cauldron once everyone was watching. "Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

"Please, sir," Hermione butt in while Neville was trembling and on the verge of tears, "please, I could help Neville put it right –"

"I dont remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," Professor Snape snapped coldly at her. "Longbottom, at the end of the this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

_That pushes a little far_, I thought, _the toad's life now depends on how his potion turns up._

A short while later Professor Snape called out, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

Vincent and Greg were closest to me, and when they burst out laughing I gave a small jump of surprise. They laughed more quietly at my reaction and at my giggling murmers of "Shut _up_."

Once the end of the lesson was nearby, Professor Snape went straight over to Neville's cauldron where Neville cowered in fright.

"Everyone gather 'round," Professor Snape said, sounding excited as to the possible poisoning of Neville's beloved toad, "and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

Becky and I stood watching from a distance as Professor Snape picked up the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion (now green) with his right. He trickled a few drops down the toad's throat.

Everyone was quiet as we waited for something to happen, and then there was a small pop... so now there in Professor Snape's hand was a tadpole and not a toad any more.

The Gryffindors burst into applause while the Slytherins groaned in disappointment.

"What a great turnaround," Becky whispered to me humorously.

I smiled, "Indeed."

Professor Snape was very displeased by this as he pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on the toad, and it reappeared suddenly, fully grown.

"Five points from Gryffindor. I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

Everybody filed out of the classroom for lunch quickly as possible, in case Professor Snape's foul mood caught on to anyone else.

"Are you all right?" I asked Becky, who was looking deep in thought.

"I suppose it's just not very fair, Professor Snape always taking points from Gryffindor and never Slytherin... when he can help it anyways... It's just, sometimes people need help, not threats. Hermione did the right thing in helping Neville and got docked for it... a job well done." Becky said, waving her arms about, and we heard a squeal.

Turning around, it was Hermione. She had ducked from Becky's waving arms.

"_How _did you do that?" I asked.

"Do what? The potion?" she asked back, slightly out of breath.

"No, suddenly appear behind us," I said with a laugh. "You were one of the first people out of the room with Ron and Harry, I saw you walk ahead of us, there's no way –"

She shrugged vaguely, "The school has its surprises. Anyways, thank you Becky. Shall we go to the library after classes this afternoon?"

Becky and I nodded.

"See you then," she said, hurrying ahead to the staircase leading up to the the entrance hall.

Looking ahead of her, I saw Ron and Harry standing in the middle of the staircase and look in surprise at Hermione running towards them. Everyone else has already gone ahead of them.

"Something's up, I just noticed she's carrying more books than before." I said, pointing to her bag.

Becky peered at her bag, "_How_ many classes is she taking? All of them?"

"That's not possible, is it?"

"Of _course_ it's not possible."

I shrugged as we made our way to lunch, "She'll tell us if she wants us to know."

"Melody," Becky said admonishly, "_When_ have I ever had the virtue of patience?"

"Well, not patience just... knowing when to let something go." I said, smiling at her. She scoffed. I decided a change in the subject was needed to help her out. "Wonder if Draco will sit with us today, or still be surrounded by others."

Becky rolled her eyes, "I don't _care_ about what _he_ does anymore, I can't believe I became his friend... well, I did because of you, but –"

I laughed, "Admit it, you enjoyed being his friend. As long as you were his friend, and no one else was surrounding him, you could be near enough to make fun of him _all_ you wanted. That was pretty fun for you, wasn't it?"

She nodded, giving me her unique cheeky smile.

After lunch was charms and after charms Becky and I went to the library, our homework load already heavy. Soon after we got all our stuff set up to work, Hermione came in quickly and sat down, a bigger load of homework on her hands.

"How many classes are you taking?" Becky asked softly.

"All of them," she said, panting.

"How does your schedule fit all that in?" I asked.

"Oh, _really_, you two are like Ron. It's _my_ problem if my schedule is a little full."

I threw my hands up in defeat, "Okay, but don't chew our heads off for being a little curious about it."

"Sorry..." she said, sighing as she sat down. "It's exhausting."

"Sounds like..." I said looking down at my stuff, "And I'd thought tutoring three students last year at different times was tough."

"How many are you tutoring this year?"

"Five," I said, explaining the schedule to her. "I suppose that helps more than what I'd done for the schedule last year."

"Heard you're tutoring our sister," two similar voices said behind me.

I quickly turned around to find Fred and George standing behind me. George sat beside me as Fred sat beside Hermione.

"Who's this?" they asked, indicating Becky, who sat down next to me looking between the two.

"Fred, George," I said, pointing to both in turn, "Meet Becky."

"Nice to meet you," Fred said.

"Wait..." George said, thinking, "I remember Melody saying something about you. What was it?"

"Don't expect _me_ to remember," I said with a shrug.

"Yeah... I was talking about you being in Slytherin, and you said, in these exact words: 'We're not all bad. My friend Becky would've been in here if she hadn't had a burning desire to mock Draco's way of taunting other people.'"

I snorted, suddenly remembering it. "Oh, right, and you said, 'I like her already.'"

Becky smiled, "When did this happen?"

"On the train last year before Hogwarts. Draco left the compartment and you left to make fun of him making fun of other people. I was still in the compartment, and these three came while you were all gone." I said, watching as her grin grew wider. "Another time, I think I remember being in the library with you guys and said that Becky was –"

"Your bestest friend in the whole world," the twins said together.

Becky laughed joyously, but I frowned.

"I didn't say 'bestest,' that's not even a word –"

The twins laughed, "Chill Melody, this isn't the classroom."

I scowled, but Becky laughed further. When she didn't stop laughing I started looking at her with concern. "Are you doing all right?" I asked, also laughing as she buried her face in my shoulder. For a brief second as she moved to do the action, I noticed her face had gone extremely red.

When she finally stopped, she rubbed her eyes and wiped off the tears that had invaded her face while she'd laughed so hard. She hugged me and said, "I love you Melody. I'm glad you finally told me about these three."

"Awww..." the twins said comically.

"Oh shush," I said with a smile at them. "Love you too, Becky."

"Celebrations!" Fred said.

The librarian shushed him.

Becky stopped hugging me and looked to him to say, "Better keep yourself calmed down, or Professor Snape is sure to come after you with Spello-tape."

I snorted with laughter. As did George, who said, "Fred, she called you out."

Fred gave a dramatic burst of crying (softly so the librarian wouldn't hear), and then looked up with a great big smile. "Welcome to our little club, Becky."

"I'd like to ask about what you two said earlier," Hermione said softly, looking at the twins seriously, suddenly changing their celebratory mood. "Melody is tutoring Ginny?"

"Yeah," I said, "Professor Snape gave me a list of students, I said I'd tutor them all and when I took a look at the list there was Ginny. I'm a little shocked that he wanted me to do the four in the list he gave me but I'll get it I suppose."

"Does Draco know you're tutoring a Gryffindor?"

"No," I said, "I know better than to tell him that. And not only am I tutoring one, but _two_ Gryffindors."

"In any case, Draco is not talking to us, so we're good," Becky butt in.

"Why not?" George asked curiously.

"He's gotten so popular with the other Slytherins, Pansy Parkinson has been _drooling_ over him and all I do is annoy him. Why he's not talking to Melody though, I don't know." Becky said, looking to me for input. I hadn't told her about what I'd said to Draco in the hospital wing.

I explained what had happened when I was sent up to give him food, and that I hadn't talked to him since. Even though I had to keep on bringing food up to him, I hadn't talked to him.

"Oh, so it's really _you_ who's ignoring him." Hermione said.

I shrugged, "That was really stupid, what he said to Buckbeak. It's his own fault he was scratched. They shouldn't dock Professor Hagrid for it because he insulted the hippogriff."

"You _can_ just say Hagrif, you know," Hermione pointed out.

"That's not how Melody rolls," Becky said, with a vigorous shake of her head, "She _always_ uses the proper name for all the teachers."

"It's respectful," I mumbled, to the humor of the twins who covered their mouths with soft laughter.

Hermione laughed too, and then said, "Have you had Professor Lupin's class yet?"

"Yeah, I had it yesterday, they were doing boggarts but I was excused from it by Professor Snape because I worked on it with him last year."

"Wow..." Hermione said in surprise, "What was your boggart?"

I told her the same thing I told the class, she and the twins had trouble not laughing. "It's kind of an embarassing boggart," I said.

"Not as embarassing as Neville's," Hermione said, a big smile on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Professor Snape."

Becky and I gave small chuckles. The twins and Hermione smiled.

"What he did to the boggart professor must be just as interesting. Do tell." Becky said.

Hermione lowered her voice down to a softer whisper to tell the four of us, "Neville dressed him up in his own grandmother's clothes."

We all had to stifle our laughter. Any louder than it was at that point and Madam Pince would kick us out.

"Professor Snape's gonna get a kick out of that." I said, positive the professor would be in the worst mood by Saturday when I was to have my tutor time with him.


	7. Chapter 7

For that Saturday, Professor Snape had apparently invited the new students I was tutoring to get us to get a schedule worked out. The second years had left to enjoy their free saturday and the first year hung around a bit to complain to the professor.

I sat in the chair in front of Professor Snape's desk and watched as the boy continuously fought with him.

"Why couldn't you give me a student from a different house?"

"Miss Riddle is the best of any of my students. She is very trustworthy."

"To you maybe, but not to me. Give me to _anyone_ else!"

"Five points from Hufflepuff, Otterburn. Leave or I will drop fifty." Professor Snape said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Anthony looked looked over at me and scowled. I guessed I must have looked like some sort of evil mastermind at work, just sitting there with my fingers crossed. I really hoped I would be able to work with him, angry with getting me as he was.

He turned, but before he could leave I said, "I hope you can keep up in classes, I'd like you to do well." He sped on out at hearing that.

"I think all you did was make him angrier," Professor Snape drawled, sounding humored.

"He'll see the value of that at some point... in fact sometimes I wonder if you're putting me with him in the hopes that I'll fail." I said, crossing my arms.

He smirked and sat behind his desk, "Do you want to make some sort of bet on that?"

I looked at him, with my eyes wide. _He_ wanted to do a bet? He wouldn't think of it as some sort of _child's game_? "Is that allowed?" I asked, feeling a grin grow on my face.

"Not unless it goes too far. Here's my part of the bet for you. If he still can't do well in school by the end of the year, your time with me will be doubled and you won't be allowed to tutor again."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "All right..." I thought, and then smiled, "If I win I get to call you Severus, and you call me Melody instead of 'Miss Riddle.'"

He was silent, contemplating that. "When we're alone I'll allow it."

I shrugged, "Something is better than nothing," I held my hand out to him. "Deal?"

He took it, "Deal."

I was almost surprised by the warmth in his hand, but of course he was human so that shouldn't be a surprise. It was just his normal coldness towards everybody in school, sometimes even me.

"Now," he said, taking his hand away, "To business. Now, you have your times with your students, to start next week, what would you like to learn this year?"

"You ask me this now?" I asked.

He looked at me expectantly.

"Well... anything you want to teach, and maybe..." I thought deeply on that, "I haven't been blocking my mind very often lately if you haven't noticed, and I used to do it so well before... maybe I could learn about that?"

He nodded and then smirked, "You know exactly what I want."

I snorted, "Sometimes I do, and sometimes you're just a real mystery. Like your patronus. How in the world –"

He gave me a look that said to stop and I shut up.

Pouting, I asked, "Anything else we need to talk about? Are we still doing this every single Saturday?"

"Yes, every Saturday and yes, I'd like to know if you want to spend more time on this."

"Like... more lessons each week?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I'd love to... if I could get the time to do that, tutor, _and_ do homework without stressing so much." I said.

He chuckled, "So maybe not this year."

"When do you think I'll have learned so much that I already know as much as seventh years?"

"Most likely by your fifth year, then for your sixth and seventh year instead of classes you can do something else for class credit... perhaps review."

I nodded quietly. Then I suddenly thought of Neville's boggart and burst out laughing.

When I was done, he looked at me questioningly and I burst out laughing again. I told him about Neville's boggart, tears coming into my eyes because I was laughing so hard and sometimes had difficulty in getting words out without me sounding like I was unintelligable.

By the time I was done, Professor Snape was fuming. "If you don't stop laughing I will take a hundred points from Slytherin."

I stopped laughing to look at him soberly, I knew he wouldn't actually take points from Slytherin but he wasn't enjoying the fact that he frightened someone. "You are a cruel, cruel man, have a little fun with that. Think about if your worst fear was me, what would you do to make me look really funny?"

He glared at me, and I chuckled.

"It's your fault he's afraid of you. Tormenting the poor soul in class."

"Get out," Professor Snape said seriously, looking as though he were about to explode.

I stood up, but stayed where I was until he looked up at me. I said "Let loose a little. I don't think you want to be mean, stressed, and stern for the rest of your life do you?... Anyways, see you in potions."

Nothing was the same really as far as school went. Now Becky joined me and Hermione when we were in the library, which was the most fun part. Draco wouldn't come sit with us anymore and basically ignored us, still playing the part of an injured boy. Vincent and Greg mostly followed him around, but when he was busy with something they would hang out with Becky and I.

As for tutoring Draco, the only time he talked to me was the next time I had asked him when he wanted our tutoring session.

"I don't need your help," he'd said disparingly. So I shrugged my shoulders and left him.

In Care of Magical Creatures... everything had gone downhill from the coolest creatures ever seen, the hippogriffs, to the most boring of all time, flobberworms. With us all now spending lesson after lesson learning how to take care of them, not that they were even of help to anyone.

"I might just starve mine to death," Becky said, looking disgusted as we fed the things lettuce.

"This is all Draco's fault," I murmered softly. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is more interesting than this, we actually get cool creatures."

Indeed, after doing boggarts, we studied Red Caps (goblinlike creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed) and after that we did kappas (water-dwellers that strangled anyone to wade into their ponds unknowingly). The only people to hate Professor Lupin were all of the Slytherins except Becky and I.

Mom sent me a letter asking how classes were and making the plan that she would write me once a week. So she would send me a letter, I would reply, and she could send another the next week. I agreed to the plan, a nice systematic idea.

The tutoring sessions were actually pretty good, the second years were easy to work with. Luna was a very attentive student, and Ginny liked me already so Colin instantly became fond of me. With the first year, Anthony, though, it was a little difficult to get him to listen to me.

"Was there anything you didn't understand this week?" I asked him.

He just stared at me quietly, his arms crossed, not saying a word. I tried my hardest not to lose my patience but it was very difficult.

I sighed. "You know, just because I'm a Slytherin student doesn't mean I'm as bad as the rest of them."

He finally said something. "I saw you sitting with that Draco Malfoy the first night of the feast when I was put into Hufflepuff. All the students say he is the worst of them all, and everyone also knows you're the smartest of the lot which is probably why he hangs out with you."

I smiled, and he glared.

"What're you smiling at?"

"He _was_ a friend. Anthony... I only became friends with him because he was there for me, he was nicer to me than he is to other people. Now, however, if you heard the story about the hippogriff, I told him he had been stupid and he's been ignoring me ever since." I said, to the surprise of the first year boy. "If you had been looking for that, lately we haven't been sitting together."

There was a long pause in which he seemed to be taking it all in, and then he said, "Why are you in Slytherin if you don't agree with what he did?"

I looked down at my hands. "That's been a mystery since year one," I said, looking back up at him. "My dad was a Slytherin and my mom was a Ravenclaw... I've been told I would have been better in Ravenclaw. But... my friend Becky is also in Slytherin, I'm closer to her than anyone else, and her whole family had been in Ravenclaw for generations and generations. Why she's also in Slytherin, she doesn't know either, but while we were friends with Draco she sure enjoyed making fun of him every single day."

He uncrossed his arms, looking more intrigued by me.

"You know... my first year I had a friend who is a Hufflepuff. Her name is Addy Gentz. She was very close to Becky and I until last year when she decided she shouldn't hang out with us because of our reputation. Very sad thing... to separate friends, but that was how it came out." I said.

He thought a moment, "I know her. She's the funniest girl in our house! Almost like the Weasley twins in Gryffindor, but not so popular and outgoing."

I smiled, "At least she's having a good time. Becky and I have sort of become outcast Slytherins, sitting by ourselves at the Slytherin table far from the big group."

He looked down, "Why are you making me feel bad?"

"Look at me," I said, and he did. "I just want you to know that I'm not a terrible person. Professor Snape entrusted me to help you in school because he's certain I'm the best for the job, and I am obligated to help you. I _want_ to help you. I don't want you to barely struggle through, I want you to be able to understand things and become a _great_ wizard."

His eyes searched mine, and he said in wonder, "You're Mr. Ollivander's granddaughter!"

I nodded, "You noticed me helping him out this summer?"

"Yeah... I thought you'd be a Ravenclaw though when I noticed you."

I shrugged, "So did my mom, so did I, and so did my friends. But the hat chose Slytherin and so I was placed in the least liked house of the school."

I could distinctly hear from his mind him thinking, _I can't believe how wrong I was about her_. I hoped he wouldn't find a way to think again on me being a terrible, horrible person, but there was nothing I could do for that at the moment.

"Now, can I ask you something?" I asked.

He nodded vigorously.

"Might you show me the homework you have?"

Instantly, he took out his stuff and placed his homework in front of him. So, I set to work in helping him out, hoping for the best results.

"Melody! Melody! Mel –"

"What?!" I asked, looking up at Becky from my homework. I'd been working on my star chart for astronomy and looked at the excited girl with annoyance.

"Our first Hogsmeade visit is on Halloween. Can you believe it? We're going to get to go, I'm so excited!" Becky jumped up and down, ignoring all the giggles of Slytherin students watching her.

I laughed, "Luckily we can go, _and_ you don't have to stay behind."

She stopped jumping and looked at me, now frowning. Walking over to sit next to me, she said softly, "I know Draco's father was able to convince my parents to allow me to come but don't make us become friends with Draco again because of that ability."

"I wasn't saying that," I said, "I'm as mad at Draco as you are. I was just saying. Anyways, though you were the first to start ignoring him, he's now ignoring us."

Becky looked sad. "He shouldn't be mad at you."

"I called him stupid, he probably has every right to be mad at me."

"No... he was closer to you than to me, I called him stupid and all he got was annoyed at me –"

"The popularity got to his head," I said with a shrug. "I can't do anything about it."

Becky sighed, "How are the tutoring sessions going?"

"Better than I expected... the second years were great, and I had done a little heart-to-heart with Anthony, the first year Hufflepuff, and he's actually been listening to me and understanding the lessons more with my help. I call that a great success that I will win the bet on." I said with a big smile.

Becky was confused, "The best?"

I laughed, "Yeah, I made a bet with Professor Snape because I thought I wouldn't get it. If I lose I can't tutor ever again and will have to spend double the time with Professor Snape. But, if I win, we call each other by our first names... when we're alone though, since he wouldn't settle for more."

She chuckled, "I can't believe it... wouldn't it be the other way around though if he was certain you would win?"

"He wanted to build up my confidence I guess." I said.

She smiled nonstop, "So he suggested the bet?"

I nodded, "Don't tell anyone else, he'll be really mad at me... and _don't_ give on that you know about it."

She laughed out loud and said, with difficulty, "Fine."

"Let me guess, you're imagining his annoyed face if you were to tell him you know?" I asked, and she nodded, so I also couldn't help but laugh. Professor Snape's facial expressions were quite something, especially when I'd told him about the boggart.

"What's so funny?" asked a drawling voice.

We stopped laughing, and Becky looked right up at someone behind me, looking very annoyed. I turned to find Draco standing there, looking as though he were ready to mock us about something.

"Oh, are you talking to me again?" I asked nonchalantly.

"You two are disturbing the common room," he said.

"Sorry, are you a prefect?" I asked, he shook his head and started to say something but I beat him to it. "No? Then don't tell us who we're disturbing, that's the prefect's job."

Becky snickered.

"This isn't a laughing matter," Draco told her seriously.

She nodded, "Oh yes it is –"

"_Now_ you talk to me?" he asked interestedly.

"Only because you've made it clear we're not friends anymore."

He was _dead_ silent after that.

Becky then looked at me, worry in her face, "Melody, are you all right?"

I put all my stuff together quickly, having a feeling I knew what she was asking about, and stood up. "Can't get any _peace_ in the common room," I said, my voice cracking. I left the room instantly... the silent, tense common room.

In the dormitory, I dropped my stuff on my bed and went swiftly over to a mirror. Tears had escaped me.

Was it because of Becky's 'only because you've made it clear we're not friends anymore?' Was it? I didn't like that we were pretty much losing our friendship with Draco, but it hadn't occurred to me that I had cared _that_ much.

"Oh, shut up Melody and get to your homework," I muttered softly, walking over to my bed and finishing up my work.

"Slytherins, hold up," Professor Snape called out at the end of potions. "As you all know, Hogsmeade is coming up, and it is imperative that you all turn your forms into me by no later than October thirty-first. If you have them now, that would be best."

All the Slytherins turned in their forms excitedly, and everyone talked animatedly about it after class.

"It's going to be so wonderful," Becky said happily, "You and me –"

"And us." Draco said, coming up next to me, flanked by Vincent and Greg.

"_Why_?" she asked coldly.

"Your parents made you _and_ me promise that you wouldn't just be with one other person or alone. They wanted you in a group, and that includes us, no matter how much we don't like you." Draco said.

Becky rolled her eyes, "They don't have to know."

"Okay," he said, almost lazily, "If it's just going to be you two then I will send a letter to your parents saying that you wouldn't allow me with you."

Becky stopped dead in her tracks, and stared at him, "You _wouldn't_."

He smiled, "I would."

"They'd _kill _me."

"Then bring us with you."

Becky let out a frustrated groan, and said through clenched teeth, "_Fine_..."

"Splendid," Draco said, waltzing away from us.

"He gets on my nerves," Becky said, her teeth still clenched tightly together.

I sighed, "Oh well... we'll have to endure him. _Don't_ clench your teeth together too harshly, your teeth might break under the pressure."

On Halloween morning, we finished up our breakfast and stood in line just in front of Draco, Vincent, and Greg. Argus Filch, the caretaker, stood inside the front doors to check off names to make sure everyone that was going into Hogsmeade was allowed to.

"Staying here Potter?" Draco suddenly burst out behind, causing us to jump in surprise (I had to keep Becky from slapping him). "Scared of passing the dementors?"

I reached Argus and he nodded to me, checking me off, "You're set to go."

Smiling, I said, "Thanks, Argus. How's everything going?"

"Terrible," he snarled, "But thank you for asking."

"Do you need me to help you out at any time?" I asked seriously.

"No, no, no, you wouldn't deserve having to do anything." Sometimes, Argus was really nice, and I laughed at the look of shock on Draco's face.

We walked toward the village, Becky with her head up high and up front with me ahead of the boys. Each of us wore a sweater for the chilly October air. But even with the bareness of autumn, Hogsmeade looked like the perfect place for hanging out.

"So, where do you suggest we go?" I asked Draco turning to look at him. I was surprised when I saw someone else with him.

Nodding to the guy, he said, "You remember Marcus Flint, he'll show us the best places to go. He's been here countless times."

Marcus Flint, a seventh year student (I think), was captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. He had coarse black hair, he was tall, relatively muscular, and had large teeth. I'd never actually talked to him in person before, but I noticed him all right.

"All right," I said, nodding, "Lead the way."

He gave a smirk and walked ahead, we followed him close behind.

"This'll be terrible won't it?" Becky asked me in annoyance, giving a barely suppressed eye roll when we noticed Draco say something to Marcus and they both laughed uproariously.

"It could turn around for the better, you never know."

"Yeah," she said with emphasis, "You never know. Are you somehow taking divination just as Hermione is taking all the extra classes?"

I snorted with small laughter, shaking my head, "I have divination books."

"Oh, that's right, your _birthday_ presents."

Smiling, I said, "I couldn't stop my mom, I swear. She was _adament_ that she would buy me presents all because she missed doing it last year a–"

"Are you two with the group or not?" Draco suddenly asked, butting in.

Becky crossed her arms and pouted.

"Yes. What, we can't have our own conversations?" I asked.

"Why do you talk back to me?" he asked.

"Since you've been ignoring me, I think I'm allowed to."

"Since you called me stupid, I think I'm allowed to talk to you when I please."

"Shut up!" Becky said, "Draco, I've called you stupid _many_ times and you never ignored me. Heck, I've called you worse than stupid. Why do you ignore Melody the _one_ time _she_ says it, but not me?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it. At a loss for words, he looked down.

"Popularity got to his head," I muttered, turning around and giving a small gasp of surprise to find Marcus had come right up behind me.

"Let's go into Honeydukes, you'll like all they candy they've got there."

He walked away and I wondered if he'd actually heard what we were talking about. We followed him, Draco was deep in thought and Becky had intertwined her left arm to my right arm, wanting to stay with me.

Honeydukes was almost like a dream come true for young children but for the fact that it was crowded... just like Disney World or Disney Land. There were sweets everywhere... of all kinds. A barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, one of Fizzing Whizbees and another of levitating sherbert balls. In many rows, there were honey-colored toffees, many different sorts of chocolate, nougat, and shimmering pink squares of coconut ice (the 'normal' candies I knew of). The "Special Effects" sweets were along one wall with Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Toothflossing Stringmints, Pepper Imps, Ice Mice, sugar-spun quills, exploding bonbons and peppermint toad creams.

Becky pulled me over to the special effects, looking straight at the Toothflossing Stringmints. "These would be good," she said, picking it up, "Good for your gums."

"Huh," I said, taking one as well. "Sounds like a good plan, I like it."

Becky giggled.

I looked at the Pepper Imps, which said "breathe fire for your friends" and poked Becky, who was looking in one direction. Picking up a packet of those, I noted, "This would be fun to check out."

"I'm not eating those," Becky said, throwing her hands up.

I laughed, "I will. I love peppermint, and anyways it'll be fun breathing fire... you should at least get the Ice Mice, that'll be fun to hear."

"Hear my teeth chatter and squeak? No thank you!"

Blowing a raspberry at her, I also picked up a sugar-spun quill. "This is all that I'll buy. Are you only going to get Toothflossing Stringmints?"

"No... I'll get Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and some coconut ice."

"Ooooh," I said.

"Shush."

Going back to Hogwarts, we were beaming with delight at the things we got. Becky and I had tried butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, seen a lot of funny products at Zonko's and ended up actually enjoying ourselves with the guys again, adding Marcus onto that.

In the common room, I crashed onto one of the couches, laying myself out and closing my eyes. It was close to the fire, so my face was comfortably warming up.

"Are you keeping the couch all to yourself?" a voice asked humorously.

Opening my eyes a notch, Marcus was standing over me. Closing my eyes again I said, "Move me however you want, I'm too lazy to do anything."

I heard a chuckle and felt his hands on my legs as he lifted them, then sitting down to let my legs lay across his lap. If you'd have asked me what I would've done at a time like that, I'd say I'd walk away, but at that moment, no, I lay there without moving a budge.

"You're comfy," I said with a smile.

He chuckled but said nothing. The silence between us was actually comfortable.

Opening my eyes, I looked over where the other three boys stood with Becky. She was talking with Draco, and pointed over to me once, when she did Draco looked toward me and just gaped. She looked too, and started bouncing up and down, seemingly excited.

"Did you enjoy the Hogsmeade trip?" Marcus suddenly asked.

I looked to him, and said, "It was_ fantastic_, I _loved_ it. Thanks for showing us around the place."

He gave a curt nod, "What was your favorite shop?"

"Zonko's Joke shop... that was _hilarious_."

Laughing he said, "Especially after we set up those stink bombs behind the Gryffindors!"

"Right?" I said, laughing as well. The Gryffindors ended up being some seventh years, including Oliver Wood who was apparently the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I wondered when or if that would get to Harry, who hadn't been allowed to go to Hogsmeade because he didn't have a signed form. "They're probably taking their baths now to get rid of the stink."

"Totally fun," Becky said, sitting in an armchair and laughing as well. "Why are you like that?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"This position," she said, gesturing at us, "What is this?"

I explained what happened, in between laughs, suddenly noticing how funny it was that I just _let_ him sit there. Then I tried sitting up and moving my legs, but Marcus grabbed hold of me so I wouldn't move out of the position.

"Let me go," I said with small chuckles, struggling under his firm grip. I was so weak...

"Nope, you're staying," he said with a smile. My heart did a jolt, I swear

"Come on, let go of her," Draco said, settling down in the other arm chair.

Marcus continued on being adament in staying that way until it came time for the feast, then we stood and made our way to the Great Hall. I liked how Draco had become friends with Marcus, and then Marcus became friends with us, the whole thing almost made me forget about our quarrel with Draco.

The Great Hall was decorated with the usual hundreds of candle-filled carved pumpkins, live bats flying around, and flaming orange streamers that looked as though they swam across the stormy ceiling as graceful water snakes. Pushing snakes out of my mind (so I wouldn't suddenly speak in Parseltongue), I set myself ready for the feast.

It was the first time in a month that we sat with Draco, Vincent, and Greg in about a month, and the first time we'd sat with Marcus. We had a blast. There was funny conversation.

Mostly, I had my eyes on the food. It was perfect, delicious and most satisfying (as always).

We went to our common room right after, deciding to stay up a while before going on to bed. I thanked my lucky stars that I'd done all my homework before Sunday, and made sure that my students wouldn't be waiting for me to tutor them today. 'My students'... sounded so weird to me suddenly.

Before we could settle ourselves down, however, Professor Snape burst into the common room and we all looked up at him in shock.

"All students, go back to the Great Hall this instant," he said seriously.

"Why, professor?" Draco asked.

"Sirius Black has infiltrated the castle and tried forcing entry into the Gryffindor common room while you were all at the feast. We're taking the precaution should he try entry into your common room as well." Professor Snape said, turning on his heels. "All of you follow me, I better not see any of my students missing."


	8. Chapter 8

We reached the Great Hall at about the same time as the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors were already there waiting.

Professor Dumbledore spoke to us all once everyone had filed in. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbances should be reported to me immediately," he added to the Head Boy and Girl, "Send word with one of the ghosts." The professor started to leave the hall, but paused and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."

With a wave of his wand, the tables moved to the edges of the hall and stood up against the walls. With another wave, the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," Professor Dumbledore said, leaving the hall and closing the door behind him.

The Head Boy, a red-head, likely to be a Weasley, shoted, "Everyone into their sleeping bags! Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

We took six sleeping bags and moved to one side of the hall to sleep. Becky insisted she would never sleep next to one of the guys and lay on my left side, while Marcus insisted on being on my right.

"How did he get in?" Becky asked. We all sat up, our backs against the wall.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I honestly don't know, there's no possibility that he got in."

"He can apparate." Draco scoffed, as though I were an idiot.

I glared at him.

"_What_?"

"The castle is protected by many enchantments, there's no way he could apparate onto the grounds. It's _impossible_."

"How do you even know this?" he asked.

"I _read_. It's all in _Hogwarts: A History_. Maybe you should check your own resources before you start acting like I don't know what I'm saying and I'm just being an idiot."

"I never said –"

"You were _thinking_ it!"

Draco just looked at me, small shock etched on his face, and then looked down. Not one more retort came from his mouth.

We lay down to sleep once the lights went out, and I stared at the ceiling, feeling frustrated.

"You're very smart."

I turned to Marcus, he was the one who whispered it. His voice had been very soft. "Wha – ?"

"You're a very smart girl... Draco even told me you tutored him for a while... I also overheard you and Becky talking about your extra lessons with Professor Snape. You amazed me the moment Draco told me about you."

"W-When was this?"

"Last year when he first joined the Quidditch team."

"Ah..." I said softly.

"I'm there for you," he said, "If you ever want my help, or just a way to calm down should Draco or anyone else make you mad."

I smiled, "Thank you, Marcus."

The next couple of days after Sirius Black's breakin, all anyone would talk about was Sirius Black. In class, in the corridors, in the common room, I even heard my roommates talking about him with each other silently while Becky and I were – supposedly – asleep.

Draco's arm was still 'broken' and Marcus told the Gryffindor Quidditch team that their own team couldn't play because of Draco's arm. It seemed the Slytherin's win that this happened, because around the time of the Quidditch match, it started raining like hell outside. The weather continued to worsen as the match grew nearer, so bad that I made the plan not to go at all. Fred and George were aghast at this.

"You don't want to watch us beat Hufflepuff?" George asked.

"I'll watch," Becky said, with a smile.

"One Slytherin is down to watch us beat them, why not you?" Fred asked, lightly punching my arm. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather _not_ go out in the cold rain, perhaps as a cobra that would be interesting yet I don't believe anyone will want a snake in the crowd." I said, looking back down at my homework. I forgot, for that moment, that they didn't know I was an animagus.

"What're you talking about?" Hermione asked. Along with Fred and George's similar expressions of confusion.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know," I said, dropping my face into my hands.

Becky, of course, had to answer, "She's an Animagi."

"_What_?" Hermione said in shock, her mouth dropped open as wide as Fred and George's.

"Wicked," George said, his open mouth changed to a big grin.

"Transform for us," Fred added.

"I can't, I'm not allowed to unless Professor Snape asks me."

"At least come with us at some point to a place where no one is around and show us." George said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on don't do that," Fred said. "Show us, we're curious. Don't be a stickler about rules."

"I'd much rather _not_ get on Professor Snape's bad side."

"Why not? It's fun, you saw that when we annoyed him your first night here."

That had been funny. They'd kept me from finding my way to my room, as I'd gotten lost and it was a couple of months before I was to actually start school at Hogwarts and a few weeks before they left for summer vacation.

"That _was_ funny, but do you know what it took for Professor Snape to trust me?" I asked.

"What?" they asked me.

"At first, it took _me_ saving him from a three-headed dog to get him to give me extra lessons. _Then _I spent the past few years being good in the lessons, in my own classes, and at tutoring students for him to entrust to me some difficult things. He's a difficult man to please."

They snickered.

That started a chain reaction to Becky who, seemingly knowing what they thought of, burst into loud laughter that she couldn't control.

The twins followed suit in long, hard laughter.

That frustrated me. "Oh my God, you dirty-minded – !"

"_Will you be quiet?!_" the librarian, Madam Pince, snapped at us, interrupting my would-be cursing rampage.

I nodded, pointed to Becky, Fred and George and said, "Will you escort these three _out _of here?"

She actually did push all three of them out of the library, to their dismay.

Hermione and I stayed behind.

"I didn't think she'd actually push them out," I said with a smile.

"Me neither," Hermione said, with soft laughter.

"No peace when we're with them. None at all."

She chuckled and then said, "Are things all right between you and Malfoy, now? I noticed you went to Hogsmeade with him, sat with him at the feast, and slept near him on Halloween."

"I don't know," I said, "The only reason Becky and I went to Hogsmeade with him was because Becky's parents hadn't wanted to allow her to go to Hogsmeade, but Draco's dad persuaded them and they made them promise that she wouldn't go alone or with only one person. He basically blackmailed us into going with him. As for the rest, he introduced us to Marcus Flint who is now probably the only glue keeping us together in free time."

"_Flint_?" she asked.

"Yes, he was the one I slept next to that night of Sirius Black's breakin, as well as Becky who wouldn't lay down next to any of the guys."

Hermione dropped her voice down, "He's a seventh year student, you won't have him next year to help with that."

I gave a small wave of my hand, "I _know_ that it can't never be a forever thing."

Hermione grimaced, "Marcus has a temper worse than Draco's, you know. So I've heard, he gets into some big fights."

"I know, I've seen most of them in the common room. He'll start up a fight with anyone."

Hermione looked at me like I was crazy.

"Only guys, though, I swear. Anyways, the fights he gets into are based upon strength in the arms. If he wants to get into a fight with me, he'll have to get past all the spells I know how to cast. I might actually be a lot quicker than him in a wand duel."

"How can you be so certain about that though?" she pointed out.

"I've done duels with _Professor Snape_ for crying out loud, and he's _really_ good. I only beat him once before."

"You've beaten him?" she was actually shocked.

"He's teaching me everything he knows." I said with a shrug. "Bound to happen at least once."

On the day of the Quidditch match, Becky followed the boys out to the Quidditch field and I instead stayed behind. I was the only one at the castle when everyone had gone, except perhaps for Argus, and turned into a snake before going onto the grounds.

Being a snake in the rain seemed to help for better movement, because of the mud, but I wondered how that would show up once I'd transformed back.

After a while, I suddenly noticed the dementors start moving onto the grounds towards the Quidditch game. Some passed over me as if I weren't there, and I looked up at them in confusion. Taking up my courage, I hissed, one dementor turned toward me and then kept moving ahead.

_Huh..._ I thought. I transformed into myself for a chance to see what the dementors would do considering they didn't entirely affect me on the train, and indeed I was so muddy and soaking wet that it was uncomfortable.

A dementor noticed me and glided over. Once close enough, it said, "Finally... we have been looking for you... the Dark Lord left us the message that he wants you to see him whenever the time is convenient for you..."

"Where would that be?" I asked.

The dementor pointed to the Forbidden Forest, "In there... he says it is 'out by the spot where Quirrell and Snape had a confrontation.'"

I gave a nod, I remembered where that was. "You can let him know I'll be there as soon as I possibly can."

It gave a curt nod, and then glided to the Quidditch field.

I went back inside a short while after, thinking of of going to take a shower to clean off the mud. I thought a lot of dad on the way, but I wasn't quite sure what to do. So this year I _do _have my dad involved, it's just that I didn't know where he was earlier than Halloween seemed an achievement. I hadn't had to worry about him thus far.

After taking a shower, I sat in wait in the common room, just finishing up my homework when the whole of Slytherin house came in dripping from the rain but with bright faces. Hufflepuff had won.

"You should have seen it!" Draco said, so excited that he easily forgot he was vexed with me. "The dementors came on to the field, and Potter _fainted_ again! Fell off of his broomstick and all! To top off such an embarassment to their team, Hufflepuff caught the snitch at that exact moment and won the game."

"Wow," I said.

"Why are you wet? Did you actually go outside?" Becky asked.

I shook my head, not wanting to freak them out about the dementor. "I took a shower so that I don't have to while everyone else is using it."

"Hope you're not taking a shower instead of watching _us_ play," Marcus said, smirking.

"If Draco's arm is ever better, I will."

"It'll be better," Draco said, sounding triumphant.

"Oh, good, I thought you'd be faking it _all_ year long." I said.

"I'm not –!"

"Don't even try that, we _all_ know your arm is not hurt! We're not _idiots_!"

"I should be the one saying that," Becky whined.

Marcus and I snickered.

Draco just gaped at me, "Why are you being like this? It's one fake broken arm –"

"So you admit it?" I asked.

He sighed in frustration, "Yes, but that's not the point. Why –?"

"Don't you think it might be just a little tiring for Melody and I with people drooling all over you because you're being funny?" Becky butt in. "You aren't spending any time with us, so why bother pretending to be friends with us if you're going to let you're girlfriend keep you –?"

"_Girlfriend_? What are you talking about –?"

"Pansy? Is she not ringing a bell?"

"We're not –"

"Oh, really? Because it sure –"

"Stop it!" Vincent and Greg suddenly burst out.

Everyone had been watching us bicker and stared at Vincent and Greg in shock. They beckoned Draco over and they walked up to the boy's dorms. Once out of sight, they looked back at Becky and I, as though waiting for us to start something else.

"Keep staring at me, and I won't pause to _hex_ all of you." I said warningly.

Instantly, everyone spread out away from us and into their own conversations. I think. Marcus smirked and stared at me.

"What's so funny?" I snapped at him.

"Are you going to hex me?" he joked, sitting next to me and draping his arm across the back of the couch.

Sighing, I shook my head.

"You may need some calming tea," Marcus said.

"Perhaps..." I said softly, and then stood up. "Eh, I'll just go one to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Good night."

"Night."

Becky walked up with me to our dormitory and said, "Thank goodness Pansy wasn't there, I think she and Millicent went straight back to our room after the game.

"Yeah, lucky..." I said.

I gave Colin back his homework, "All right, that's good for today. Great job this week, guys," I said, giving encouraging smiles to the second year students.

"Thank you, Melody," they each said in turn.

They each left the library, and I packed all my stuff together. Looking around, there was no one but Madam Pince and I went up to talk to her. "Could you watch my stuff? My friends should be here soon to meet up with me, but I have to go to the bathroom and I don't want to bring my stuff."

"Yes, dear, you may leave your stuff. I will make sure no one will take anything," she said with a smile.

"Thanks, I'll be back as soon as possible," I said, walking out of the library.

But I wasn't going to the bathroom, in case it hasn't already been guessed. I made my way to the the entrance hall and, checking that no one was watching, opened the doors and closed them behind me. The air was really cold, and even more so once I transformed into a cobra. I moved quickly across the grounds, hoping it would be at least a little warmer once inside of the Forbidden Forest.

Why did I have to be a cold-blooded creature? It was too bad I couldn't cast spells in this form, and those spells wouldn't stay on me if I had cast them beforehand either, as I'd read in the book about Animagi when I first became one.

I slithered across the dry ground, wondering what he'd been doing for the past couple of years since he'd failed in getting the Sorcerer's Stone. He said he'd send a message to me when he needed me, but I hadn't known to look for the scariest thing on the face of the Earth.

Once in the forest, I had the feeling that something was watching me. I moved faster.

At some point, I was suddenly surrounded by many snakes that pretty much led me the rest of the way. The only surprise was that, once at the very spot the dementor spoke of, they then led me through a skinny tunnel we could only fit through one at a time.

In what looked a large, round room of trees blocking all ways out but the tunnel, was a blank space of moss, flowers, and the large snake in the middle. Nagini. Under the influence of dad, she seemed to have adapted pretty well with dad living off of her.

"Melody?" Nagini asked (in Parseltongue obviously), it was dad saying it though, I knew that very well.

"Dad."

Dad slithered over to me, placing Nagini's head next to mine as if in a hug.

"How have you been doing?" I asked when he pulled away.

"I found out a way for me to have my own body... it's a process, but I believe you can help me with it."

"What can I do?" I asked, doing my best to sound excited.

"I remember Professor Snape saying you excelled at potions... you also did well in the dark arts..." he said thoughtfully, "Are you still?"

"Better than ever."

"Good... the name of the potion is Flesh, Blood, and Bone, you'll likely find it in the restricted section of the library... that potion will be for when I have a body, but it is not enough. For your exeptional dark arts skills, I need a spell that will give me a body... it will be weak, but it will be enough until we can get the potion done."

I gave a slow nod. "And the spell? Am I able to do that now, or...?"

"No, not yet. I need a faithful servant of mine to be able to take care of me. You'll be in school, and I don't want to burden you."

_Seriously?_ I thought to myself. _He's burdened me with more than that... I feel like_. "What about Sirius Black?"

Nagini's face went into what seemed an evil smile. Dad said, "He's innocent of all charges at being my servant."

The shock went through me before sinking it in did. "What?"

"He didn't betray the Potter family to me, he wasn't even their secret keeper, he passed it on to another friend of theirs. Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail. _He_ betrayed their location to me, and I plan on getting him back. I know for a certain fact that Black didn't destroy him as those _Muggles_ thought they'd seen. I believe he is now a rat, as he is an Animagi like yourself, and he misses a finger. He cut one off so people would believe he was dead as that was all they found."

My eyes widened, "Genius..."

"I'll have to bet that Black got out so he could get revenge on Pettigrew. Though all others believe Black wants to kill _Harry Potter_ for _me_."

I gave thought to all that and, if I were human, my face would have gone completely white with realization and fright. I was so glad I wasn't human at the moment. Ron's rat, Scabbers, had a toe missing if memory served. I remembered seeing Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, running after Scabbers once in the library and looking at Scabbers' feet as he ran.

"I think I know where Pettigrew has been hiding for all these years..." I said to him softly.


	9. Chapter 9

I left shortly afterwards, hoping my friends wouldn't worry about me. Wondering how long I'd been gone, it was a big surprise when this big black dog suddenly jumped in front of me. I paused and slithered back a little bit to look up at it.

_Curious_... I thought. _Black dogs aren't really part of the species of the Forbidden Forest, are they?_

Suddenly, the dog transformed into an unforgettably familiar man on every wanted paper I'd seen recently. Sirius Black. He sat down in front of me and looked as though he waited for me to do something. He was proven innocent to me by my dad, so I wasn't afraid of him, but what worried me was the fact he absolutely suspected I was no normal snake.

He gave a small smirk, perhaps at the fact I wasn't doing anything to him. "What are you doing out here? Surely you should be back in the castle by now?"

It was Sunday, thank heavens for that considering I had no classes I could possibly be late to. But my friends...

I started to slither around him, but he grabbed onto me right around my neck, keeping a tight hold so I wouldn't get away. I was almost certain he was about to choke me to death. He stood up, holding me so I wouldn't choke but also so I wouldn't get away.

He walked along through the forest, and once we were close to the Whomping Willow he looked around and started walking toward it.

Okay, maybe I was wrong, perhaps I should be afraid. Was he _mad_?! The Whomping Willow was the most dangerous tree I'd ever seen, it would hit anybody within branches reach of it. Then, the most bizarre part was when something orange quickly moved toward the tree and touched some knot on the trunk. As it went into the small hole in it, I thought, _did I just see Crookshanks do that? Good gosh what's going on right now?_

Sirius Black slid in and walked through these corridors in it. I wasn't much paying attention to where he was going, all I tried to do was wrench free from his grasp, I didn't want to know what he was touching if I were in my human form. He was too strong for me. _Why was I a snake?! Why couldn't I be a tiger or at least something bigger and more menacing?!_

He took me into a room, closed the door behind him and set me on the floor. I slithered away from him quickly, not yet wanting to turn back into a human just yet.

Black looked towards Crookshanks and said, "What do you think of this one?"

Crookshanks walked up to me, looked at me as though scrutinizing who I was, then purred and rubbed his head against mine. Hermione had introduced him to me, we'd allowed our cats to spend some time together while we were in the library and so Crookshanks had been quite taken with me. The fact that he was chasing after Peter – or Scabbers, whatever – made me wonder why he didn't hate me since Peter was also a servant of Voldemort. Sort of.

Sirius Black was surprised by this, also as I also rubbed myself against Crookshanks. He was _so_ warm, and I was freezing from the cold.

"Could you perhaps show yourself to me in your true form? I know you're not a real snake."

I sighed to myself, wondering how this would go. Transforming to myself, I looked at him, trying to allow my eyes and senses to adjust. How long had I been with dad?! Raising an eyebrow at Sirius, I asked, "What exactly gave me away?"

"Watched you come in the forest and saw all those snakes suddenly swarm around you. That's not normal."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, really? I was quite sure that was _perfectly_ normal."

He continued to stare at me, as though waiting for something.

Crookshanks settled himself into my lap, and I said, "If you want to ask me something, go right on ahead. One thing's for certain, I didn't ask for those snakes to surround me, they were just helping me find the right path."

"The right path to where? I tried following, but I was too big to get in."

"_That_ I don't feel subject to telling you," I said, "That was _my_ business I had to attend to."

He seemed to look even more curious as he watched me just sit there, absent-mindedly petting Crookshanks.

"You don't seem to be afraid of me, why is that?"

"I can protect myself if need be, I have my wand... besides, I'm certain you aren't guilty of any murder of Muggles _or_ the death of the Potters." I said, watching for his reaction. This was dangerous, I know, but I honestly couldn't help myself.

"How do you –"

" –I have my sources. Crookshanks here isn't one of them, but that business I was attending to did give me some news."

"You know this cat?"

I nodded. "Belongs to a close friend of mine."

He was silent for a moment and then said, "What do you know?"

"You're not after Harry Potter as the Ministry of Magic seems to think, _but_ you are after a little rat who really is the cause for the deaths of some good people... also that you got out of Azkaban in part of being an Animagi because the dementors pay no heed or attention to animals." I said. I'd thought of that last part for a while, after finding that dementors never noticed me as a snake I had the idea that Sirius must be an Animagi, too. But, I searched the record for registered Animagi, and he was not one of them. He was unregistered.

"Again, how –"

"It's suffice to say, Sirius, that I know... and I'm willing to help."

He started to look slightly irritated, but asked, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Uh-huh, and which House are you in?"

"Slytherin."

He looked disgusted.

I smiled, "Ah yes, you also see it as the worst House in the world."

"No wonder that cat likes you –"

"That has nothing to do with it. The friend of mine whom Crookshanks belongs to is in Gryffindor. It's a secret friendship, mind you, but one nonetheless... Crookshanks is perhaps more helpful to you, her owner being in the same House as that rat. Or did you not know?"

"I don't have a way to communicate with the cat what I need, or if I do I'm not sure he understands what I'm saying."

"He understands perfectly well. It's amazing how smart he is about that rat." I said.

Sirius said nothing.

I added, "One thing that might help is if you leave Peter to me –"

"No! I waited twelve years to be able to get him back after that! I'm not going to be held back once I'm in the same room as him!"

I put my hands up defensively, "Okay, okay." _He must not be thinking straight after all those years in Azkaban, poor man. I'll allow him time to get his mind back, but I __**need**__ Peter._

He stayed silent for a short bit, seemingly trying to calm down his nerves after freaking out.

"I – uh – sort of need to get back into the castle. My friends are probably worried about me." I said softly.

He looked up at me and gave a small nod, backing out of the door. I stood and walked over, but he stopped me with his arm.

"You're going to keep me a secret?" he asked

"Yes," I said.

"You really are going to help me?"

"As best I can."

"... What's your name?"

I paused, wondering if I should, but then I didn't think he'd recognize my dad's name. "Melody Riddle."

"Hm... I don't recall anyone by that last name." Sirius said, looking as though he doubted me.

"My mom took my dad's last name, he was about twenty years older than her. He's dead now. My mom is Orele Ollivander."

His mouth dropped open. I quickly ducked under his arm and found my way out of the Whomping Willow. I didn't need him going on about her. If he ended up being in love with her just like Gilderoy Lockhart, I swear I was about to die.

I got back to the library pretty quickly after that and sure as day there was all my stuff and it had gotten darker than I realized it to be, but Hermione, Fred, George and Becky were just leaving. I groaned at my lateness.

"Where have you been?" Becky asked, sounding freaked out.

Hermione, Fred, and George just passed on by me and as I looked at the table where we usually sat at there was my stuff... and Marcus.

"Marcus caught you?" I asked in surprise.

"No, not really, I was sitting with them and when I saw him walk in I told them in a whisper he was there and started calling them out. We got into a _hilarious_ pretend fight for his sake and were just getting up to leave. I don't want to stay with him, but _you _may have to." Becky was looking overjoyed by the thought.

"What are you so happy about? That this may be a sort of punishment for me being gone so long? I got caught up in a bunch of things..." I said.

Becky rolled her eyes, "All right then, not your fault, but you missed us and now have Marcus."

I watched as Becky skedaddled on out of there, and then I walked over to Marcus. He smiled as I approached him, so I smiled and sat down next to him. I felt that it most likely would have been rude to just grab my stuff and walk away.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing, just here waiting for you. Thankfully I didn't wait as long as Becky seemed to have." Marcus said jokingly.

I smiled, "Right in the knick of time. Becky told me about those Gryffindors."

"Would you have hexed them?"

"Probably," I said with a laugh, "Wouldn't have been so good though, with it happening in a library. Would've been kicked out before I knew what I just did."

Marcus burst out laughing.

Madam Pince shushed him rather loudly.

I couldn't help my own smile as I tried to help calm him down. "If she kicks you out I'll be all alone, I need to do some work in here."

When he stopped laughing, he still smiled as he asked, "What kind of work?"

"Grading these practice quizzes I gave my students. I still haven't graded the work for my first-year student." I said, giving a small 'I made a mistake' look. Marcus gave a small chuckle.

"Do you need help?" he asked.

"If you want to help, you can," I said, honestly shocked he made the suggestion.

He leaned back in his chair, "Nah."

"Should've known you would be hoping for a no," I said, slapping his arm lightly.

He put his hand where I slapped it and softly said, "Ouch."

I sat up and, smiling, said "I did not –"

He laughed, "I know, I'm just kidding Mel."

"I know you are, but –"

"Calm down," he said simply. I just silently stared at him, trying not to laugh. "See? Now I can call you Melo."

"As if I can be mellow long enough for that nickname to even make any sense."

He nodded, "That's right. Which is why you should stop threatening others that you'll hex them whenever you're annoyed." He laughed softly.

"That was the _one_ time I did it, and now you're holding it against me?" I asked.

He chuckled, leaning forward in his chair, and pointed to my papers. "Work?"

I scoffed, "So you distract me, and _then_ point me back to my work. Great way to waste time."

As I pulled the quizzes out I could feel him trying really hard _not_ to laugh so hard. When he finally composed himself, he put an arm around me and said, "I love playing around with you. You have no idea how much."

I smiled, deciding to myself that him putting his arm around me was normal. "Play around with me to the point of annoyance, though, and I may actually hex you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Dare me?" I asked in amusement, turning to look at him.

He looked thoughtful and then said, "No, I won't take that chance."

I laughed, "Good, you're too awesome to hex."

"You mean it?" he asked in surprise.

"I say what I mean and I mean what I say." I said.

After that day, Marcus seemed to spend any spare moment either of us had with me. I could hardly get away from him to go to the library with Becky and the others. Also, in order to get the time to, I ended up sneaking out at night in order to talk with Sirius. I wasn't to return to dad until I got Peter in my hands, and I knew that would take a while.

The first night I returned to visit Sirius, he was pacing around the room that I had come to figure out was the Shrieking Shack. The shack was supposedly haunted, but since I hadn't heard or seen anything unusual, I allowed it wasn't actually haunted.

Sirius had looked up at my arrival with shock.

"What?" I asked.

"I hadn't actually expected you to return... wait – are you alone, or –"

"All by myself," I said, and then looked down at Crookshanks, "But, I will allow to say I've brought my cat with me."

Right after I said that, Bodoujn went around me and got into a small playfight with Crookshanks.

He looked at Bodoujn with interest. "That's certainly not an Animagi... all right, I feel safe."

I gave a slow nod, "Good, glad to know I'm at least a _little_ trusted."

A small smile appeared on his face.

We were silent a short while. I wondered to myself what he was thinking and what his next plan of action was, but the thing with men just out of a prison with those awful dementors was that they need time to themselves without getting out of control.

"I'm Harry's godfather, you know," Sirius let out.

"Really?" I asked.

With a nod, he said, "Lily and James – his parents – said that if anything were to happen to them, they wanted me to be there to take care of him. To be his godfather, his guardian... but, with the thought that I had been their secret keeper and had betrayed them, I couldn't and so he was given to his aunt and uncle."

"You asked for Peter to be the secret keeper instead? Is that how he knew?"

He nodded, not bothering to give a reply to that. "It's nearly Christmas time..." he thought aloud, "I thought of getting Harry a gift."

Honestly, I almost said "Awww..." but I held myself back. Instead I asked, with a smile on my face, "How much money do you have on you?"

He perked up, "I actually kept a stash of my money here – and yes, I swear this is all mine – back when I was in Hogwarts. I'd saved up so much and spent only a small amount on Hogsmeade visits."

I raised an eyebrow, "What, were you so sure you were coming back."

"No, I'd thought I'd have kids by now... tell them where the stash is and then it's all theirs to do what they want with it."

I was filled with wonder, "That's a great idea."

"Thank you," he said with a smile, taking out a big trunk and opening it.

My mouth dropped _wide_ open. There in front of me was _piles_ and _piles_ of galleons. I almost felt as though I was suddenly involved in a treasure hunt.

"And, since I can't go out in public, you'll have to be the one to get him a present."

I closed my mouth and nodded, I had a feeling that would be a needed possibility. But I didn't know what Harry liked, he didn't like me and after last year he never wanted to talk to me again in all obviousness. Especially not Ron. "How much is that?"

"Oh... I'd say about a thousand galleons maybe," Sirius said, looking it over. "Now for figuring out what Harry likes. What do you know about him?"

"Honestly?" I asked him, "He doesn't even like me... now don't go making any assumptions that I did something to him, because I didn't. It's just because I'm a Slytherin, so he finds me one of the most untrustworthy people alive."

"Give it a try, what do you know he does?"

"Uhm... Quidditch –"

"No kidding?" Sirius asked excitedly. "Which position?"

"Seeker."

Sirius had such a big smile, his pride was unmistakeable. This _couldn't_ be the man they believed killed the Potters, he obviously was a much better person. Great personality and I actually started to think of him as a friend at that point.

Then I jumped with realization of something and said with more excitement, "Just at this last match, Harry's broomstick was smashed to pieces. He needs a new one!" Hermione had told me about it, I'd heard the part where they said Harry had fallen off his broom but she had to tell me his broom went off and hit into the Whomping Willow.

His eyes brightened, "What's the newest broom?"

I faltered, I didn't know much about brooms. "Uh... let's see... I don't really keep in tabs on brooms," I said. _I know Draco __**does**__ but since we're sort of fighting I'll cancel that out_, _but maybe Marcus? Nah, __**both**__ of them would wonder why I want to know._ "I may have to wait until the next Hogsmeade visit to go in Quality Quiddith Supplies, which is the day before Christmas vacation. I could buy whatever is shown as the newest one."

"You may have to take all of this then," Sirius said.

I stepped back, "Are you really going to actually trust me with this?"

"No, I'll be watching you from a distance. I'll put the money somewhere by the store and once you find out the cost, you'll come out and take the money you need."

I nodded, "Good, I almost thought you'd lost your touch in whether to believe or disbelieve someone. I could end up not being at all trustworthy..." The idea felt bad, but I knew it was true. In league with Lord Voldemort, I did nothing to stop him from continuing on with his dreadful actions.

He chuckled, "You've got a very odd personality... almost like your mother."

Looking up at him, I said, "I'm still getting used to the notices that people knew my mom in school. Most not even in her own House!"

With a smile, Sirius said, "Yeah, spunky girl. Friends from all Houses from her year in school, no matter their differences. It was always a surprise seeing her hang out with the Slytherins mostly, but she sometimes hung out with me and my friends... including James Potter."

"I'd heard from her closer friend Gilderoy Lockhart that she'd been mostly spending time with the Slytherins, but I never heard any of this from her myself. She just doesn't tell me anything." I said.

"That doesn't entirely sound like her..." Sirius said thoughtfully. "I remember this Lockhart, they started dating. Both of them together made Ravenclaw House look fun to be in, they were always making a crowd laugh."

"Hm..." I mumbled quietly.

"Are you much like that?" he asked, actually curious.

I shrugged, "Sometimes, mostly with my friends. To a whole crowd I'm just the smartest girl in the House. I don't like a lot of attention, so I usually do anything to get a crowd of people away from me." I gave the example of my fight with Draco (not saying any names) and how I'd said I would hex them if they didn't go away.

Sirius burst out laughing, "I never heard Orele do something like that, that's great! Perhaps you got your way of disliking people from your father.. considering he was in Slytherin."

"I'm in Slytherin, too, though. My mom told me he died before I was born so I have no way of knowing what he was like."

"So you just grew up with your mother?"

Shaking my head, I said, "Lived with her and my stepdad, who is Muggleborn, in America. She married him long before I was born, so she just pretended to him _and_ me that I was his. She tried having us live a normal life, but that didn't last long with the knowledge I had magic. She wanted me to go to Hogwarts, and so we left my dad in America with my half-brother, alone and probably wondering what's happened."

"She never told him the truth..." Sirius said in realization.

I nodded. "Part of the reason I'm so different from other Slytherins is that I grew up in the muggle world. They live so differently but they're not as awful as all the Slytherins make them out to be. Even those who are half-bloods."

Sirius nodded, "That is the problem with our society today. It should be changed."

"The one thing that would probably change it for good would be Voldemort's downfall." I said.

"You say the name!" Sirius said in surprise.

I looked at him, he wasn't afraid of the name either otherwise he'd likely be reprimanding me with large fright in his eyes. "It's just a name. I don't understand why people flinch at it."

The Hogsmeade visit was coming up, but about the week beforehand, my mom sent me a letter saying to stay at school for the holidays. Grandpa and Uncle Gerald had a bad case of the flu and she didn't want me to catch it. I felt bad and sent a letter back, along with a get well card for the two of them.

Marcus, the moment I said I was likely staying, he said he would love to invite me and Becky to his home for the holidays. I also put this into the letter, asking to go to Marcus' with Becky. Becky did the same with her parents.

I admit I felt a little odd knowing Marcus was a seventh year student and yet he insisted on having _two third years_ at his home. Did he really like me _that_ much?

"He's getting attached to you," Becky whispered, "Probably doesn't want to leave school."

"You kidding? That's _all_ he wants to do. It's almost all he talks about is how much he can't wait to graduate from here and never come back." I said.

"Or he's just getting attached to you and will make you move in with him," Becky said, and then audibly gasped. "He'll be old enough to adopt you, you know?"

I rolled my eyes and she giggled. "Shut up," I said.

It was the day before Hogsmeade that our parents agreed to it, and when we told Marcus he gave a big smile. Both even gave the question of who Marcus was and why we weren't going to Draco's. Neither of us had the nerve to tell them we were in a bit of a tiff with him.

"Great!" Marcus had said, "I think you'd enjoy your time there, we have _so_ many guest rooms and servants should you need anything. Christmas dinner is _always _the best at my home."

That seemed a little too much of a fantasy for it to be perfect, but I followed along with it.

On the day of the Hogsmeade visit I started worrying. How was I going to pry myself away from Becky and Marcus long enough to go into the Quality Quidditch Supplies store? There had to be _something_ I could do to get them involved with something else and not notice me disappear... or I could say I had to go do something. No.. Becky would want to follow me to do it, and to make it more worse Marcus would, too._ I can't __**believe**__ I'm stressing over a Christmas present,_ I thought to myself in annoyance.

Marcus told us he had asked Draco to join us but – and these were his exact words – he said, "I don't want to be near those two mistakes if I can help it."

Becky's mouth had dropped open and I had to go hide for a bit to calm down. The way he was acting just _had_ to be all my fault. It wasn't a good feeling, but I suppose you can't change what's happened. You have to suffer through it.

I'd gone into a girl's bathroom and I breathed deeply to myself.

"Melody!"

I jumped, and looked up to find – "Myrtle! Oh, how good to see you!"

"I'm fine.. are you all right?" she asked, coming up closer to me. "You're not looking too good."

"I.. just need a moment to get over something. I – I'm sory I haven't visited you, I just now realized this, I've just.. been _so_ busy."

"With what?" Myrtle was never easy to calm down once she had the idea you didn't like her.

"I..." I sat down by a sink, remembering the way I had opened it up the previous year to let the Basilisk out. I hated these memories, and with Myrtle I had the chance to realize something. "I've been a little stressed... I told Draco he was stupid and he's been annoyed with me since then. And – and I haven't even tried to be friends with him again." Indeed, that much was obvious, so Draco planned on ignoring Becky and I.

"Oh, Melody..." Myrtle said, putting an arm around me, but it just went right through me. I shivered, it was neve pleasant for a ghost to go right through you. "I'm sorry!" she said, horrified.

"No, no, no, it's okay.. I understand you're trying to comfort me. I'll be all right – hey, is Peeves annoying you anymore?" I asked.

Myrtle shook her head with a bright smile, "No, and I still have you to thank for that."

I smiled, "Air hug." I opened my arms, and when Myrtle looked confused I said, "Since you can't actually touch me, we can do a pretend hug from a distance... I'd rather stop looking like an idiot right now."

Myrtle actually laughed, and then did the same thing I was doing.

"I'm feeling the love," I said, putting my arms down. Myrtle laughed at that, too.

The next day, I woke up and Becky was already ready to go, pacing around the room that was actually pretty much empty except for the two of us and a bunch of trunks.

"How long have you been doing that?" I asked groggily, sitting up in bed.

"I don't know, a couple hours. Millicent and Pansy asked the same thing, although the difference was that they sneered at me."

"Are you _that_ excited or _that_ frightened about today?" I stook up and got dressed in the clothes I had left out for our last couple of days at Hogwarts before we left for Christmas vacation. I sort of wondered what Draco thought about it... Marcus must have told him.

"I'm not quite sure, perhaps a bit of both. The good thing – I think – is that Draco is not going to ruin it – though he could – and that Marcus will be very good to be with instead." Becky said.

"But...?" I asked. When she wouldn't answer, I said, "You just said it was a little bit of both, you've said the good now what's the bad?"

"Oh, I don't know... I just feel like we should make amends with Draco..."

I continued for her, "Instead of continuing to hang out with Marcus... So you want to make amends with Draco, though he's being the stubborn one?"

"He's not the only stubborn one, you and I are as well."

I couldn't argue with that.

"Look.." Becky continued, "Though Draco is being so odd about when you called him out for being stupid, we should let this whole thing behind us. I mean... he _did_ finally take off those bandages."

Draco _had_ taken them off, but I found he only took them off because of Hufflepuff's recent defeat of Gryffindor in Quidditch. He now used his arms to make fun of Harry's fall from his broomstick after the dementors came. "_Yet_," I said, "just because he took off the bandages, it doesn't mean that he isn't still at fault for what happened to him in the first place. And he continued to use his injury against things that he could very well do for himself, besides he should learn on his own time that what he did was wrong. I don't really want to talk to him anyways for being _this _stubborn." The whole thing seems childish, especially when I think about it in a future's perspective, but honestly he _had_ been stupid.

"All right, I guess so..." Becky said, finally sitting down on her bed as I finished getting dressed. She still seemed worried though.

"Who knows? Marcus did say we would have the best time at his house." I said.

"Not that he would know a thing about what _we_ would like," Becky volunteered softly, almost menacingly, "He could think we'd enjoy big wrestling fights with him and his family members and ask us to join."

I burst out laughing, "We'd better hope that's not what he has in mind, then!"

We went downstairs to get breakfast and then went on our way outside. I was glad I'd brought some gloves and a hat _and_ wore a relatively heavy coat. My mom had bought me this coat a few winters ago when I was still living in Ameica, and I'd looked at it assuming it was just a jacket because it was so light. And it _was_ a jacket, it's only just this past summer that she'd thought to tell me that she had put a heating spell on it when she got it. I'm really glad she did that, people _were_ wearing jackets and were obviously freezing from the cold.

Hogsmeade was pretty with all the snow, almost like one of those pictures you'd see on a Christmas card. Only it was a lot more realistic.

We went all over the place; Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head, and to the post office so Marcus could tell his parents that he was bringing some guests over for Christmas vacation.

When we were at the post office, Marcus had forgotten to write a letter so he took a piece of parchment and a quill and set down to work on it. I felt this was my perfect opportunity.

"Hey," I whispered to Becky, "Why don't you help him work on that while I go to the bathroom?"

She looked distressed, "Can't I come with you?"

"Well, do you have to go?" I asked.

"No," she mumbled.

"Then I shall do the same thing you did to me when you left me in the library with him. I'll be back." I said, going out the door of the post office. There was no bathroom in the post office, luckily, and so I set off for the Quality Quidditch Supplies store. It was right across the street from the post office.

I stopped after hearing a small **woof** and waited for Sirius who, in his Animagus form, came to walk alongside me.

"Didn't know you had a change in mind of what to do, well let's hope you'll be let in... where's the money?" My gaze turned to his back where a bag was slung over him, two large pouches on either side of him. "Hm.. that's smart of you."

I stepped inside to find it was surprisingly empty. "Hello?" I asked aloud, and a wizard came from behind the counter. He looked partly like a dork, which gave something new, and he smiled.

"Welcome! You're my first customer in today. What can I do for ya?"

"Really? Why does no one come in?" I asked, looking around at all the different sorts of brooms on the walls.

"They look at the Firebolt and hate that they can't get it," he said with a snigger.

I smiled, "How much is it?" I looked over at the display where there floated the Firebolt. It surprised me to see its handle was made of Ash (this I could tell because of wand woods, Ash was one of them) and it glittered, brand new.

There was a pause, and then the shopkeeper said, "_Seriously_?"

I looked up at him, he was genuinely shocked as he walked over to me. "Yeah, seriously. I was thinking of getting one for – for a friend." _If he would call me that after this, not that he'd even know_.

"Well, for today I'd say seven hundred galleons – be lucky because sometimes people say thousands... you're really generous to give this to a friend instead of buying for yourself. I must say that much indeed."

"I'm not much of a flier.. my friend is though, and recently he has needed a new one." I said, looking down at Sirius. "If you want seven hundred galleons, you may want to bring some sort of bucket."

He nodded, and escaped into the back room. I knelt down next to Sirius, "As a first present to your godson, this should be his best Christmas yet."

The man came back out with a basket. "It may take you some time to count all those galleons."

"Not a'tall," I said (my first successful moment of speaking in an English accent), taking the basket away from him. Placing my wand inside the basket I said, "Accio seven hundred galleons."

Seven hundred galleons flew from Sirius' bags into the basket.

When I gave the man back his basket, he gave a small mutter of "Show-off."

I laughed, "Just to make it easier, my friends don't know I've disappeared. I don't have all day to get back to them."

"Oh, I see," the man said, looking embarassed. He gestured, "Well, here's the Firebolt."

"Thanks," I said, picking it up. It vibrated gently in my hand as I walked out with it and then followed Sirius off to the side where no one would see us. I knelt down next to him and placed the middle of the handle in his mouth. "I'll be back later tonight, and we can talk about how to get the Firebolt into the Gryffindor common room."

He gave a nod and bounded off toward the Forbidden Forest.

I stood up and walked back into the post office where Becky sat beside Marcus looking extremely bored.

I smirked, "Was I really gone for that long?"

"_Yes_!" Becky said, looking up at me. "You were gone for about twenty minutes!"

I shrugged, "Sorry, I didn't realize."

Becky walked up to me and put her arm into mine, "You are _not_ leaving me again!"

Marcus laughed, placing the letter in an envelope and giving it to the owl that patiently sat there waiting for him. "I didn't even say anything –"

"Yes, you did! And I dare not repeat it to poor Melody, here!" Becky said indignantly.

I raised an eyebrow at both of them, "All you're doing right now is making me curious –"

"Melody, no –"

"What did he say?!"

All Marcus could do was laugh until his sides hurt.


	10. Chapter 10

I had gone to visit with Sirius – who had just finished wrapping up the broom – and he had already worked out a way for him to place it inside Gryffindor common room. He wouldn't tell me thought, not surprisingly. I agreed and so went back to my dormitory to put any remaining stuff inside my bags.

The next morning we all woke early, to my distaste, to get on the train back to King's Cross.

I can't remember much of it except I was so tired that the moment Becky, Marcus and I found a compartment I made myself comfortable and fell asleep.

Later on, I'm not sure how long afterward, I opened my eyes wondering where I was. When I looked out the window at the snowy outdoors and remembered, but was surprised that I'd been leaning against Marcus and that he had an arm draped around me. We were alone in the compartment, another surprise to me to find that Becky wasn't there to pry him away from me.

Rubbing my eyes, and trying to pretend like that wasn't at all embarassing, I asked, "What time is it?"

Marcus smirked, "Noon."

"Huh..." I said softly, still trying to wake up, "Really?.. Can't believe I slept that long."

"Well, believe it," he said with a small laugh.

I looked around, pretending as though I was just noticing, "Where's Becky?"

I felt him shrug his shoulders, "She just said that she had something to do and to not do anything to you, because if she notices anything wrong when she gets back she swears she's going to kill me."

I laughed, "I see she still has to get used to you... I suppose you bore her because she dares not make fun of you."

With a chuckle, he leaned his head on top of mine and said nothing.

The silence was more comfortable than anything, I was still slightly tired so I feel that may have attributed to it when I think of it later on. I looked to the compartment door, and no sooner did I see someone bolt away (I don't know who, probably someone running down the hallways) than Becky burst in.

Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Well, now that you're awake sleepyhead, you can get up off of Marcus."

I laughed and slowly sat up, "I didn't realize how I'd fallen asleep until I woke up."

Becky rolled her eyes and turned to Marcus, "Draco would like to speak with you before the train reaches King's Cross. So go now before the time passes by too quickly and he has no time to speak to you."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her, "Did he say what for?"

"No," Becky said frustratedly. "Now get on out and see what he wants. Go on."

Marcus stood up and as he past Becky he gave her a small smirk, sidling on out of the compartment.

Sitting down across from me, after giving a glare at Marcus as he made his way down the hall, she looked at me with a strange expression on her face. "Are you falling for Marcus or something? I thought sure that once you woke up, you'd move as far as possible away from him."

I thought reflectively on that. Did I? "I never really thought about it actually... it's just I'm still slightly tired and, you know, he was comfortable... anyways you keep on changing your mind about him."

"I do?"

I nodded. "One moment you're going '*gasp* he could adopt you' and the next you're going 'maybe we should make amends with Draco instead of continuing a friendship with Marcus.'"

"Oh... I guess I'm just a little – confused."

"About Marcus? He's been more than accomadating –"

"No, it's something else.. you – you wouldn't understand..."

I looked at her in confusion, raising an eyebrow I said, "What wouldn't I understand?"

"How long do you think Marcus will take with Draco?" The change in subject couldn't have been more obvious.

I sighed, exasperated. "How am I to know if I don't know what Draco's talking to him about?"

Becky shrugged wordlessly.

"I have a feeling you _do_ know what they're talking about... you're just not telling me."

"I would never!" Becky said with fake shock.

Grumbling to myself, I looked out the window at the day passing by.

Augustus (Marcus' dad), Eloisa (Marcus' mom), and Aurelius (Marcus' grandfather) were very excited about having us there. They were really great hosts and tended to our needs at the best of their ability, making sure Becky and I were enjoying ourselves.

On Christmas day, we were awoken with sharp jolts by Marcus.

"What, are you _trying_ to kill us?" Becky asked grumpily.

He laughed, "It's Christmas, don't you know?"

"What time is it?" I asked, groggily sitting up and pushing off the blankets.

"Oh, seven or eight in the morning. There're presents under the tree even for you two." Marcus said, jumping up and pulling me along with him. Becky had to scramble to her feet and catch up with us.

All three of us in our pajamas, rushing down the stairs, made me feel like I was a little girl again. In the Ollivander house, we never got a Christmas tree like Marcus' family did. I'd only ever had a tree when in American with my mom and stepdad.

Once there we sat down to open the presents. Marcus got a broom care kit from his parents and instantly went to get his broom. Becky got a letter from her parents, as well as a watch and some jewelry. My mom sent me a letter and a book called _Jiggery Pokery and Hocus Pocus_.

The letter said:

Happy Christmas Melody,

I know you're probably thinking 'another book?' I thought you'd like these two books as well. Yes, two. _The Invisible Book of Invisibility_ is in there two. The manager at Flourish and Blotts found some of them the day I went in to get you some presents and I bought it. Very expensive, but I know it'll be worth it for you as long as you don't lose it (I almost did a couple times, once thanks to Gerald.)

I haven't been able to think of telling you about your new baby brother, he keeps me up all night. His name is Blake Gilderoy Lockhart, and I can't wait for you to come home to see him.

Love and kisses,

Your mother, Orele Ollivander

_I guess my mom's taking her last name back,_ I thought to myself, _while leaving Blake and I with competely different last names – not that I want Lochart's last name. Not at all. No siree!_

"What's up? You're smiling uncontrollably." Becky said. "Is it the book?"

"Not about the book, though I do apparently have an invisible book... my mom had a baby boy – and I never thought about him until she just talked about him..." I said.

"Well, you've had a lot on your mind. What's his name?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh, you're going to _love_ his name." I said with a small smile. "Blake Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Did I just hear you say _Lockhart_?" Marcus asked, coming in with his broom as Becky gave a gasp of happiness. "And with a smile on your face! Oh, the shame."

Becky frowned at him, "Don't you know that Lockhart is Melody's stepdad?"

His mouth dropped open, "No way! How's he doing now?"

I shrugged, "Fine, I guess. He'll be in St. Mungo's for the rest of his life thank the heavens for me. With his memory he was annoying, I can't even imagine how he must be without his memory. My mom is the only one to go visit him."

He smiled, "So you _don't_ like him?"

I vigorously shook my head, "Becky here is the one who fancies him."

"Then why were you –"

"She has a baby half brother!" Becky shouted, unable to contain her excitement. She didn't care what Marcus thought of her.

I laughed, "My mom named him Blake Gilderoy Lockhart. I don't know why she would want that though, I feel like he'll be shunned for having that name in the future. She should've done Ollivander instead – and without _Gilderoy_."

"Ah, they won't remember Lockhart by then... and besides, you don't have Ollivander as a last name either."

"No, but I suppose it's to keep my dad's memory alive." I said, almost cringing at the thought.

After dinner that night, Becky and I went upstairs to bed. I closed my door behind me, bidding good night to Becky, and sat down on my bed. The two books were on the desk next to me, and I picked up the invisible book. This was going to be a hassle to keep up with...

I opened it up and found out two things, one was it was upside-down and two was I had opened it to the back of the book. That was going to be a problem with this.

Fixing it, I started to read it when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said.

Marcus came in, closing the door behind him and looked at me. His confusion was oh too clear, "Why do you have your hands like that."

_Oh,_ I thought,_ I have a book in my hand but it looks like I hold nothing. Ugh._

"I'm holding the _Invisible Book of Invisibility_." I said, placing it on top of _Jiggery Pokery and Hocus Pocus_. "And now I'm not."

He chuckled.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

He went over to the window and beckoned me over, a smile on his face.

I stood came up next to him, it snowed madly outside... but it was really pretty. The naturality of it, the way the flakes glittered against the dark background of the clouded night sky. "Wow," I breathed, mostly to myself. I started to search the sky for any stars peaking through gaps in the clouds.

It surprised me to feel a pair arms snake around me and turn me toward Marcus. Had we ever been this close (not counting the train)? It seemed as though he had the brightest stars in both of his grey eyes, and his face was so close I felt his warm breath flit across my face. Looking up above us, mistletoe hung from the ceiling. I smiled at the irony, having the idea that he put it there. I looked back to Marcus just in time for him to bend down and kiss, causing me to wrap my arms tightly around his neck.


	11. Chapter 11

We were back to school in no time, and I found myself instantly going to Professor Snape's office. I knocked at the door and came in without waiting for him to come to the door, it just seemed a little much for him to have to get up and open it.

"Miss Riddle, I see you're back."

I nodded, "How was your vacation?"

"Nothing to interest you," he said with a glance at me. He was looking at a pile of papers. "Cut to the chase, Miss Riddle."

"How – uh – has Draco been doing in his classes? I meant to ask before break, but then I never really got to it... I mean – if you _know_ how he's been doing, if not I guess I could leave it alone, but I was just wondering."

"Not as well as last year, he's been going down in his studies even though you're tutoring him. I was about to talk to you –"

"That's just the thing, I haven't been tutoring him. I made him mad and he hasn't let me tutor him at all."

He dropped his papers down and looked up at me, his elbows on the table and crossing his fingers. "Really?"

I sighed, "I made him mad, and so I was wondering if I should try to make it up with him so he can get some help. It looks like I should considering his grades... –"

"You know what?" he asked, "It sounds more to me like you're just looking for a reason to make up with him. Melody, if you just tell him you should be friends again because of his grades, or at least make it obvious that's all you're doing it for, he'll be even angrier."

_Hey, good advice **Melody, **maybe you should try it_, I thought to myself. I did want to make it up with him, our ignoring each other did seem to have gone too far. "Thank you, Severus."

His nose crinkled when I said that, and I laughed. Finally getting an expression besides anger or a small smirk felt like another accomplishment.

"Well, while you're here," he said quickly, "I will assign you an essay on werewolves, the same thing I assigned the third year Gryffindors in Lupin's class but they complained that they knew _nothing_ of them and so did not do the assignment. So, this is for you to tackle."

"Thanks," I said, "Anyways, he hasn't even gotten to werewolves in case the Gryffindors hadn't told you."

He sneered.

"Oh, I see, they _did!_ You just didn't want to listen to them." I said, standing up and leaving the room before he could explode on me. I donned the Disillusionment Charm just in time for him to storm out of his office and moved off to the side as he rushed down the hall, looking around in confusion. I could feel his confusion! His feelings were open to me!

I didn't dare continue forward into his feelings and left in the opposite direction to the library.

Hermione sat at a table with a pile of books, and I thought back to our first year when she'd tried reading up on riding broomsticks before our first flying lesson. She'd been desperate to not look like she had no idea what she was doing and was extremely nervous.

I sat down across from her now and asked, "What's up?"

Her head snapped up at me. "Oh, good to see you're still talking to me."

"What?" I asked. _What did she mean by that?_

"Fred and George aren't talking to me just because, I guess, Ron and Harry told them. I'd suppose –"

"Hermione. Before you go any further... _what_ are you talking about?" I asked.

"You mean – you don't know?"

I shook my head, "I don't exactly get news about Gryffindors unless I'm in here with you guys. I think Becky is still unpacking her bags so Fred and George wouldn't have found her in the hallway... otherwise she'd probably tell me whatever it is that is so bothersome."

She sighed, "Harry got a Firebolt for Christmas –"

"That's great!" I said, smiling. "What's the matter with that?"

"There was no note saying who it was by! I told Professor McGonagall about it, and she and I both believe that that brom was sent by Sirius Black! McGonagall took it and is now stripping it down for jinxes with Flitwick and Madam Hooch."

My eyes widened. "Are you out of your _mind_?"

"See?" she asked, "Knew you'd take it well."

"_How_, may I ask you, would Sirius Black be able to go buy such an expensive broom? He's on the run for crying out loud! Any sighting of him would have been notified to the Ministry of Magic. And if there'd been a break-in to a Quality Quidditch Supplies store, we would have known." I said, Hermione looked downcast.

She straightened herself up with an 'I acted for the best' look and I sank down into my chair in defeat. _I could tell her I sent it,_ I thought to myself... _No! I can't. I may have helped Sirius buy it, and it **is** by Sirius she's not wrong about that, but she'd certainly wonder why I'd spend so much on Harry._

Shaking my head, I took out quill, ink, and parchment. "Professor Snape assigned me an essay on werewolves just today. Might as well start it now."

"You – You're not going to ignore me?" Hermione asked.

I shook my head, "Though I don't believe Sirius Black could've gotten a broom, I don't doubt you did it for Harry's safety. You're a truer friend than they have made you as in this instance, considering I believe you basically say they're ignoring you."

She nodded and smiled gratefully. "How much do you know of werewolves?" she asked.

"Everything," I said, "I read the book over the summer, werewolves are partly the most horrible creature in the book."

"Snape assigned this to us when he took over for Lupin, whom he said took ill... I'd suggest you think of a werewolf in terms of Lupin."

"Wha –" I began, but then it started to sink in, "_Oh_!"

It all fit; he was always shabby looking, and he took ill at the time of the full moon.

"Hermione... _you_ are brilliant." I said.

"I only thought of it because Snape gave us the essay in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class instead of continuing along with what Lupin had been teaching us about."

I smiled, "Don't be so humble."

I went to Professor Lupin afterwards. I wasn't planning on telling him I knew he was a werewolf, it's just I wanted to be sure – in a way.

I knocked on the door and heard his "Come in."

Coming in, I said a small, "Hey."

"Hi," he said in surprise, "I wasn't expecting you. Come, sit down."

"How was your holiday?" I asked, sitting on the seat in front of his desk.

"Excellent, excellent. You want to know something? Harry has asked me to teach him how to conjure a patronus charm... I have found a boggart that we can use so he doesn't have too much trouble and it won't be as horrible as the real thing." he said. This was certainly news to me, I guess he never thought to tell Hermione about this wish. "I was wondering if you might want to come and help, as it was quite a feat for you to be able to conjure a corporeal patronus on your first try. He might like the expertise."

"Oh no, no, I shouldn't." I said instantly.

"Well, why not?" he asked, slightly amused.

"It's just that... well, Harry doesn't like me very much. And if I were to help you out in teaching him, I'm quite certain he'd believe I'm showing off in my abilities."

"Really?" he asked in surprise. "Why does he not like you?"

For some reason I had the feeling Professor Snape may have said something about me being too nice for someone to hate me. "Both Ron and Harry hate me... I believe it's just because I'm a Slytherin, but what would I know?"

He gave a small smile, "Hm, such a pity because you are such a remarkable witch. I've never seen _anyone_ conjure a patronus for their first time."

I felt a blush creep into my cheeks, and mumbled, "Thanks."

He laughed, "What, no one's told you?"

"You know Professor Snape, he doesn't give such deep praise. When he gives some even a slight bit it's a miracle."

Professor Lupin laughed harder. "That is true, Snape can be a little too harsh about things."

I felt the urge to ask him why Professor Snape hated him so much, but then I knew that was their past and if Professor Snape didn't want anyone to know about it he certainly wouldn't want Professor Lupin to go around saying things.

"I can live with it, as I've had his tutoring for all the years I've been here. I might know more than a seventh year by next year or the year after."

Professor Lupin was suddenly interested, "Professor Snape told me about that, I thought that was quite interesting that he would put you into the program at such a young age. He's a pretty strong rule-stickler and I would have thought you wouldn't –"

"I was surprised, too," I said earnestly. "I don't think this is why, but – shortly before he agreed – I sort of saved him from being chewed to pieces by a large three-headed dog and tended to his leg – mostly without his agreement, of course. But, I guess that after that he believed I was ready for it and besides even then I aced all my classes."

He smiled, and then looked questionable. "Might I ask who your parents are? I don't believe I've ever met a Riddle."

"My mom told me my dad died, and his name was Tom Riddle. My mom is Orele Ollivander."

He looked surprised, "Orele!"

I laughed, "Everyone is always doing that, I'm starting to think she was famous all about the school."

"Well, she hung around with everyone, even Slytherin students. I would've expected her child to go in Ravenclaw as well, it having been in her family for so many generations."

"My dad was a Slytherin, she'd said, and I guess his House won – not that I don't want to be in it, I think it's much better than Ravenclaw. I've already got a bunch who hate my guts because when a teacher calls on me, I get the right answer."

He burst out laughing.

Later I went to the Slytherin common room and there sat Draco in an armchair by the fire, looking deep in thought. I sat in the couch next to him, near enough for him to hear me.

"Hey," I said.

Draco jumped and turned toward me, "Oh, Melody... hi."

I took a deep breathe and let it out in a sigh. "I just wanted to say I don't want us to be estranged forever, it shouldn't have even started, and I'm sorry for calling you stupid."

He was surprised. "N-No, I'm sorry, I –"

I smiled and jumped over to hug him. It took him a bit to hug back, perhaps the surprise of such a sudden 'we're friends again, oh this is wonderful' feeling. I let go and said back on the couch, laughing at his dumbstruck look.

Becky jumped over the couch and sat next to me, "Are we friends again?" She had her finger's crossed hopefully.

"Heh, yes Becky we are."

"Oh, great! Because Draco –"

Marcus sat in between us and put his arm around me. "Hey," he said, knowingly breaking in a – sort of – reunion. "Did you know? Melody and I are now dating." Draco and Becky looked as if they just got hit with the full body-bind spell, they were so shocked. Marcus whispered in my ear, "I've been telling everybody, I guess I didn't get to these two."

It hadn't really crossed my mind that after that kiss we would start dating, but I guess it should've. I guess I thought we'd discuss it before we went around telling people, but Marcus _was_ an impatient person so he thought it was the only choice.

I just gave a sheepish smile and nodded.

"Tha – That's great! Congratulations." Becky said.

"Yeah... we – we're happy for you two." Draco added, giving a small smile.

"Great, thanks," Marcus said with a big smile. Then he turned to me and gave me a short, soft kiss on the lips, "I have to finish unpacking."

"Have fun."

"What, you can't help me?" he asked, a sly smile creeping into his face.

"Ha! I don't think you'd want me to, I noticed your roommates went up there and you know how they are. I'd rather not feel inclined to curse them."

He laughed and stood to leave, "All right, see you later."

Draco stood then as well, "I should unpack, too."

Marcus sort of walked away with a slight skip to show his jauntiness while Draco scattered away as though to hide.

I looked to Becky who looked after them with worry.

"Did I miss something?" I asked.

February came still as bitterly cold as January, and whenever I fancied a visit with Professor Lupin he talked of Harry's dementor lessons. He was expecting too much of himself, frustrated that his patronus charm wouldn't ward off the dementor but just hold as a feeble shield between him and it.

"Have _you_ tried using the charm around a dementor?" he asked curiously.

"I – uh – haven't had the need to." I said.

"Would you like to try with one? That is – if the boggart will turn into a dementor with you..."

"Shouldn't be too difficult," I said, to his surprise. With a laugh, I added, "A boggart turns into what you think is most fearsome. I actually can't think of anything that terrifies me, and a zombie doesn't even cut it."

"You can make the boggart believe you are afraid of something that you're not afraid of?" he asked dubiously.

I nodded.

"Show me something that wouldn't possibly be something to fear... and then do the patronus charm against the boggart dementor."

"Well, what do you think?" I asked. "Some people are afraid of random things like twigs."

He chuckled, "How would you know so much about _that_?"

"I lived in the muggle world when I was little and one time my mom read a book of fears. She would read it to me sometimes and there were some _very_ peculiar things in there that you probably wouldn't _dream_ of being afraid of. Some people are afraid of the number thirteen."

He smiled, "You love books. Turn the boggart into a book for... wands."

"My grandpa's wand notebook!" I said excitedly.

With a laugh, he said, "Take it away!" He opened a large packing case as I thought strongly of the details in my grandpa's wand notebook, thinking to myself that I most feared all the many things he knew about these wands. Knowledge was my fake fear here.

There his notebook showed up, the pages flipping throughout the entire thing - "Riddikulus!" I shouted, and it turned into a dementor. The room got freezing cold. "Ha!" I said, and the dementor boggart faltered at that. "Expecto patronum!" my wand sprouted out a cobra that pinned the dementor boggart to the wall. _Wow. It's a __**big**__ protection against dementors I see._

After getting the boggart back into the packing case, Professor Lupin said, "I think you were right not to help me teach Harry... after all his hard work with this, I feel that he would look at what you just did and become discouraged."

"What did I tell you?" I said, waving my arms slightly dramatic.

With a smile, he said, "Well, I'd best get to work on grading these papers."

"See you later," I said, leaving with a wink to the library where Becky sat with her arm around Hermione.

I hurried over, sitting down across from them. "What happened?!"

"Sc-Scabbers is dead," Hermione said, trying not to cry.

"Ron is blaming Hermione because he believes Crookshanks has eaten him," Becky elaborated for me. "Harry and Ron were ready to forgive her about the Firebolt, because they just got it back, but now it's gotten worse because – well you know how Crookshanks is around Scabbers... and the evidence is pointing straight to him."

Crookshanks wouldn't have eaten him, he would have taken him to Sirius... but he wouldn't have had to draw blood, would he? Perhaps if Pettigrew had been struggling hard enough, but then that would've left blood all across the floor and even Pettigrew wouldn't be that bold from what I'd heard of him. He would do anything to stay alive. He must have just faked his death... again. He must be a fan of doing that.

Before I could say anything to console Hermione, however, she suddenly stood up, dislodging Becky's arm from her shoulders.

"Wait, where are you going?" Becky asked.

"Hagrid's. I've been helping him prepare Buckbeak's defense against the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures alone."

"The hippogriff Draco insulted?" I asked.

She nodded.

"We'll help you." Becky and I said together.

Down at Professor Hagrid's hut – of which I hadn't been in since the previous year because Gilderoy Lockhart brought and forgot me there – we searched through history books for some sort of testimony that could possibly help Buckbeak out.

Buckbeak sat in the corner on a patchwork quilt eating dead ferrets. Surprising how such a magnificent creature would eat such an undesirable looking/smelling meal.

Hagrid pulled Hermione off to the side after letting us in, talking quietly with her. Perhaps it was about her not coming with Harry and Ron again but with us – Slytherins instead of Gryffindors. He hugged her and then they both joined us for the search.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where have _you_ been?!" Sirius asked the moment I stepped foot into the room.

I brought my hands up in front of me, "You _do_ realize a girl needs sleep sometimes, don't you? In any case I've been busy with a lot of things... and I take it Crookshanks didn't bring Pettigrew back here, correct?"

"No... did you catch him?" he suddenly looked very hopeful.

I shook my head and said with a sigh, "I think he may have faked his death again, his blood was on the bed sheets of the student who 'owns him' and I guess had a couple of cat hairs from Crookshanks to leave at 'the scene of the crime.'"

Sirius dropped his face into his hands and sat down.

"He's probably still in the castle, though, I don't believe he'll stray far just to get away. There's actual food here and probably isn't for miles." I said. When Sirius gave the barest of nods, I added, "He might still be in that room, and no one thought to look for him because they all thought him to be dead. So, just like you, everyone blames Crookshanks."

Looking up suddenly, Sirius asked, "You seem to know a lot about the person who had him as a rat... how is that possible? I'd forgotten you said you were secretly friends with a Gryffindor, but I would think a Slytherin would worry about their reputation should that be found out."

"Well, think of it," I said, sitting down next to him. "Even if I become shunned by all the Slytherins, I still have three Gryffindor friends – yes three – and one Slytherin friend who is friends with them as well. Though my other Slytherin friends would probably go ahead and ignore me, I still have others."

"I see... and your family still loves you even though you're not in Ravenclaw..."

With a nod, I said, "I'm probably too lucky for what I have, but I don't really care what others think about me because my life isn't dependent on what others think I should be like."

"Huh... and the boy who has had this rat for years – is he your friend, too?'

I shook my head vigorously, "He _and _Harry don't particularly trust me, they aren't likely to become friendly to me any time soon."

He looked down, "Because –"

"Because I'm a Slytherin.. I _never_ did anything to them."

"And they're in your year?"

I nodded.

"Then I'll know where they're at in the Gryffindor dormitories..." at my inquisitive look he said, "I saw in the newspapers that Weasley family, and when I saw that _rat_ I knew it was Peter. I'd seen him as a rat so many times in school, so obviously I recognized him... and so I'll have to find my way into the castle again to get him."

I felt a jolt at that, "Sirius, _don't_ –"

"Just to check –"

"_No_! Listen to me – a dog may be inconspicuous out in public, but _no one_ in Hogwarts owns a big black dog. Besides, there's no real knowledge of where Pettigrew is, I only said he _could_ still be in that room. It's a better possibility that he's going around the castle and should I see him I'll grab him." I said.

He chuckled, "Melody, you're not my mother and besides I'll do it at night when everyone's asleep – _and"_ he added before I had a chance to protest, "I have a way in and out of the castle that isn't the front door. There's a secret passageway that the Whomping Willow is seated on, I'll enter and exit through _that_."

I rolled my eyes, "Worrying about you does not mean I'm your _mother_."

He laughed, "Glad you know – my own mother never mothered me quite the way you seemed to just now."

I paused. "Why?"

"I wasn't the favorite child, and anyways I never took place in Slytherin but in Gryffindor."

Crookshanks came in holding a piece of paper in his mouth, stopping beside Sirius who took it from him. Crookshanks then proceeded to jump into my lap while Sirius opened up the note to read it and smiled.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"The list of passwords into Gryffindor Tower," he said, his face aglow with excitement.

"Will the portrait let you in this ti –" I asked, stopping in realization. He watched me with anticipation. "Actually, according to my friend, the Fat Lady you'd freaked out last time resigned out of fear of you showing up again so the portrait of a knight is there now. He won't let anyone by unless they have the passwords – so he'll likely just let you past if he doesn't think twice about who you are."

"Thanks for this," he said with a smile.

I sighed, "Be _very_ careful – whenever you decide to do this."

He nodded.

"Harry's next match is tomorrow," I said, "He'll be riding the Firebolt you got him. And he's probably at practice right now."

The next morning, I sat at the Slytherin table with my friends and (surprisingly) everyone else that is on the Slytherin Quidditch team though they weren't playing today. I was also surprised to find all of them gaping – looking at one thing. I turned to see what it was and it was Harry's Firebolt on the Gryffindor table. I almost smiled, he was certainly enjoying his present.

Marcus put his arm around me and whispered in my ear, "Do you want to do something with me tonight?"

I smiled up at him, and said in a very bad English accent, "Sure... would you like to go on a walk in the moonlight?"

He burst out laughing. "I think maybe around midnight we could just sit around the common room, everyone would be in bed and we could just be alone – for a change. Would that be good for you?"

I nodded, "I'd love that."

"If you lovebirds could split up for a second here," Draco intercepted, "Flint, I have a plan that involves you, me, Crabbe, and Goyle."

"What are you thinking?" Marcus asked, smiling maliciously.

_They're planning something_, I thought to myself. _Oh, joy _(sarcasism) _I get to see them doing something to sabatage Gryffindor... not that anything will work, I think._

"This oughtta be interesting." Becky said, turning to look at the group of boys.

"If we could leave you and Melody out, that'd be fantastic." Draco said to her coldly.

Becky was about to retort when I said, "Well, go ahead, conversate without us but you move. We're staying right where we are."

Marcus snorted, "Laziness kicking in?"

"Awe," I said in a babylike voice, "Has the boyfriend already forgotten his girl won't ever, ever, _ever_ allow herself to get lazy?"

The Slytherin team broke out into large fits of laughter, even Draco.

"I'd just rather sit in the one spot at the Slytherin table that's usually quiet except for today," I said, looking up at him with what I hoped to be adorably cheesy puppy eyes. "You don't mind moving, do you?"

He smiled and bent down to kiss my lips. When he pulled back he said, "It's amazing how you can continue to surprise me." He stood and beckoned the team over to another space to huddle.

"I continue to surprise myself," I muttered softly, so only Becky could hear. We both glanced at each other, our eyes meeting, and laughed.

"Me too," she said, looking happier, "I _never_ thought I'd see you do puppy eyes _or_ flirtatiously ask someone – even if he _is_ your boyfriend – to do something for you."

I took a chunk of my hair and draped it above my mouth, "I am a master of disguise."

Becky _really_ couldn't handle that, she almost fell off her seat laughing.

We went to the match with the boys, sitting in the front row (a first), who watched attentively while Becky and I did homework for classes. I also did a bit of grading of my tutor students' work that I had them do for me, they were improving greatly – especially Luna and Ginny. Colin did pretty average, which I guess worked but it seemed awarding to see if I could push him a little. Anthony, throughout our lessons, found his own love for Herbology –

"Where'd the boys go?" I suddenly heard Becky asked.

My head snapped up to where the boys had been what felt like only a second ago. _Where could they have gone?_ I looked around in the Slytherin crowd... they hadn't moved anywhere... how could they leave without telling us? "Huh..."

Then we heard a sudden shout from the field and looked down to see three dementors standing there looking up at Harry who took his wand out, cast a very strong Patronus at them (almost into a full shape of what I believe was a stag) and continued flying just catching the snitch. I looked at the dementors who had fallen over at the power of the Patronus... but, they should have veered away _and_ they wouldn't have just stood there...

"Oh my gosh!" I said with sudden realization.

"What?" Becky asked, looking at the dementors, too.

"Those aren't dementors... Becky, the boys."

She burst out laughing, and watched with joy as Draco tried getting out of the long, black, hooded robes where he had been standing – or sitting – on Greg's shoulders, Greg was still stuck in the robes but lay still as Draco tried getting out.

All the Gryffindors had made their way out to the field and were now celebrating their victory. Ron had his laugh at Draco, and Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were now dealing with the four.

"I wonder what sort of detentions they'll get," Becky said with a smile of satisfaction.

I chuckled, "A detention we won't get because we're good students." _At least Becky is... I'm awful._

Suddenly I saw Professor Lupin, he noticed me in the crowd. I gave a thumb's up, hopefully he knew it was about Harry's Patronus, he nodded and gave me a thumb's up back. Then I looked to the crowd of Gryffindors, the twins waved to Becky and I frantically – they had been trying to get our attention. Becky and I laughed and waved to them.

Becky suddenly snorted, "I'll bet Joey is mad about Ravenclaw's loss."

"Oh, your brother will get over it – just as Draco gets over Harry's fame and broomstick –"

We finished at the same time, "Never."

The two of us made our way to the common room to finish up some last minute work... I mostly wanted to stay there to wait for the boys. How big was the trouble they got in?

My question was answered in the next minute so late at night no one was in the common room but us.

They came in, tailed by Professor Snape... Marcus looked furious and Draco just looked flushed as if he was extremely embarassed.

Professor Snape gave a curt nod to us. "Miss Riddle, pay attention. I want you to be able to keep a close watch on these four as they have detentions every Saturday for the rest of this school year straight after dinner until about midnight or a little later."

"Yes?" I said, wondering to myself why he was having me do it. _He trusts me too much..._

"Mr. Malfoy will be cleaning the trophy room... Mr. Crabbe will be cleaning the hallways... Mr. Goyle will be cleaning the Great Hall... and Mr. Flint will be cleaning the Quidditch bleachers. Filch would like for you to assist him in watching them."

"Um... okay, sounds good." _I guess._

He then proceeded to leave as the boys left to bed except for Marcus who threw himself down next to me on the couch. Even Becky gathered up all of her stuff and went up to our dormitory... either they all knew our plans to be alone for the night or they knew Marcus' temper could be let out on them.

I took a deep breath, "Well, cleaning up the bleachers can't take all that much time."

"In the dark it will."

"They would let you take a lantern out – and if they didn't then I would give you one to use no matter the consequences... knowing Filch, he'll want you to work in the dark."

He nodded, and turned his head to look at me... pulling me straight into his lap he said, "Let's just let this time be for us. Maybe then I can forget my anger..."

It was a shocking thing for him to try that hard – and yes I would believe that to be a hard feat for him to accomplish. "If you can't hold in your anger, you can always just let it out. I can take it, you know." I said.

Shaking his head, he stroked my cheek, and brought his lips down to mine in a passionate embrace.


	13. Chapter 13

"Melody, wake _up_!" Becky shouted once more, now throwing one of her pillows at my head.

"No!" I mumbled into the pillow. "It's only Sunday, I can sleep in until lunchtime, I don't have my tutoring session until after then!"

"Melody! Sirius Black got into Gryffindor tower last night!"

I instantly sat up, my head spinning with the suddenness. "_What?!_ Did they catch him? Did he kill anyone?" I certainly hoped the last one didn't happen. But, who knows what could happen there?

"No for both questions. I saw there was higher security today and went to talk to Hermione... Black went into the Gryffindor third year boy's dormitory and slashed at Ron's hangings. Ron woke up, screamed, woke everybody up, and Black escaped before anyone else saw him. He disappeared _again_!"

"And Ron's okay?" I asked.

"Apparently a little disoriented, but he'll live. I believe he's enjoying his fame now, everyone's asking him about what happened... the portrait that was guarding their common room was fired and the old one put back. But now she has security trolls guarding her in case Black thinks to come back."

"Good for Ron and for the portrait," I said, standing up and rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"What time did _you_ go to bed last night?" she asked.

"I don't know... one o'clock?" I said uncertainly. "Marcus and I stayed up a little late, and once we felt tired we went to bed. I never checked the time."

"What, did you just _kiss_ that entire time?"

I shook my head with a wry smile. "We sure kissed for a while, but we did _stop_ and _talk_."

"What about?"

"What, do you think I remember that? It was early in the morning, when I'm tired everything get's blurry." I said, thinking back. Yeah... I couldn't remember a thing from the night before, I feel like his kisses may have taken over my mind... but I could vaguely remember him looking at Draco before coming to sit down next to me with a face that looked untrusting.

"Are Draco and Marcus all right?" I asked.

She gave the barest of flinches, yet it was so easily noticeable. "Why do you ask?"

I scoffed, "I'm not an idiot, Marcus gave Draco the barest of glares last night and since you've been awake I'm sure Draco must have told you what happened when they got their punishments last night. Something _must_ have happened if he looked to him so... so untrusting."

"I'm sure it's just guy stuff... or Marcus is angry about the backfire in their plans..." Becky said nervously. When has _she _ever sounded so nervous?

"Becky –"

"Oh, just calm down about it Melody. When the two of them want to tell you – _us_ – what they're mad at each other about, they will. You're patient, I'm sure you can handle it... besides, they'll make up and won't kill each other." Becky said.

"And now _you're_ suddenly patient?" I asked. She must know something.

She shook her head, "_Ohh_! Just get dressed!" She then stomped on out of the room.

I stared after her. I said aloud to myself, "Come on now, I didn't say anything drastic. I'm just curious, she surely understands... she's never been _patient_ a day in her life."

I got dressed and went downstairs, luckily enough for me not one of my friends were in the common room. I hurried down to the entrance hall and went outside, transforming into a cobra and slithering all the way over to the Whomping Willow in the bitter cold.

Once in I transformed back to myself and went to the room where Sirius sat looking exasperated.

I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms. "Didn't find Pettigrew?"

His head snapped up, he relaxed slightly and shook his head.

"You can't go back in now... there are now security trolls guarding the common room. You quite fully frightened everyone."

"... I went in there and saw Peter in the common room and when he saw me he ran away as fast as he could to the boy's dormitories. He went into Weasley's bed, right through the curtains in the bed and I didn't want to take the time to find the opening in it so I took out my knife and ripped the curtains... the boy woke up and screamed so I ran before anyone else woke up and got me." Sirius looked downcast. "I bet they all believe I got the wrong bed... meant to get Harry..."

"Most likely." I said softly.

He sighed, "Thanks for checking in on me."

"Hey..." I said, sitting down next to him. "It's no problem, really. I'm glad you were able to get away."

He looked grim, "You know... I'm surprised no one has thought to look at the Whomping Willow. It was planted for my years at Hogwarts for... for a really good reason."

I looked around the room like I never had before... there were scratches all around the room on the walls. And when I thought back on it, the rumors of this place being haunted were because of the screams people heard years ago... "For Remus Lupin..." I said softly, remembering the change from man to werewolf was a very painful transformation.

Sirius looked at me in surprise, in my periferal vision I saw he was at a loss for words.

"He's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year... my friend figured it out and gave me the clues... that he's a werewolf. We're probably the only two students who know."

"R-Remus is here?" he asked in surprise.

I nodded. "He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher I've had at this school yet. Gryffindors are better teachers of that," I added with a laugh. "For the first two years of school here we had two different teachers, both from Ravenclaw, both used to be close friends with my mom... and both were _terrible_ teachers _and_ people."

Sirius burst out laughing.

The next day I saw over at the Gryffindor table, Neville Longbottom got a Howler... the worst letter a student could get. I had gotten one the year before from my mom – who'd gotten exasperated with me – and it was loud but at least it was only one word. Neville ran out, but only got as far as the entrance hall before it exploded and his grandmother's voice – maginificently louder than usual – shouted at him about how he'd brought shame on his family... for leaving a list of the Gryffindor passwords lying around for Sirius Black to pick up.

The whole of Slytherin had laughed at him as he ran, but Becky and I continued eating and ignored any outbursts of laughter. We were the only ones at that table to feel sorry for Neville.

Becky started talking to me as if what happened the day before hadn't happened, so I just went along with it. There was no harm in it I suppose, but it was still odd for her to be so secretive about something that I thought I should surely know about. Marcus and Draco were pretty close for the captain and seeker of the Quidditch team, it must have been something pretty damaging for them to suddenly hate each other.

I had another letter from my mom:

Dearest Melody,

I hope you are enjoying your books, and I can't wait for the summer so you can see Blake. He has the brightest blue eyes, you know, much like Gilderoy's. He will likely be a spitting image of his father, much like you are.

I'm not sure if you know this, but I really love that Severus Snape continuously sends me letters talking about how exceptional you are in school. He has a lot planned for your immediate future, I think you ought to know, and I am so proud of you.

Your grandparents and Uncle Gerald give their regards (though Gerald hopes for you to come back not being a sufferable know-it-all, but I trust you know not to pay attention to him). We all miss you!

With love,

Mum

That letter was enough to make my day, even with Blake looking like Gilderoy and Uncle Gerald still going on about me being a – and I quote – 'a smart ass.' I showed the letter to Becky who instantly went "Awww!"

"I hope Blake doesn't turn into the fraud his father was," I said with a sigh. "That would be a real tragedy."

Becky frowned at me, "There are worse tragedies than _that_, I assure you."

"Oh, please, don't assure me anything of the sort," I said, shaking my head vigorously. "Our family might get worse than whatever Blake could become."

I wrote a letter back to ask if she introduced Blake to Gilderoy yet, and to send the family my love. It was certainly better than 'my regards,' now where do you get that sort of thing? That could be sent to acquaintances possibly, but certainly not family.

I looked at Marcus, his arm around me, but he stared at Draco and kept close to me as though to protect me from him. Draco avoided his glare, looking down at the food he hardly touched.

"Honestly, you two!" I burst out.

They both jumped and looked at me in surprise. Draco with a sort of fear... Marcus with just, I guess, curiosity.

"I'm not an idiot... now whatever it is you're at each other's necks in tension about has got to end. You two are close, what could have gotten you at odds with each other like this?... Sort it out or – or Becky and I will have to lock you up in a room alone with each other." I said.

They took one glance at each other and burst into laughter... not funny laughter or nervous laughter though.. it was that of relief. Oddly enough.

Marcus smiled at me, "We can do that, for your sake _and_ for ours before we really are at each other's throats being locked up in a room alone with each other for too long." He brought his arm down to around my waist and pulled me closer to him for a kiss.

"You've been dating for how long?!" Hermione asked, very frustrated.

Becky, Hermione, Fred, and George and I were in the library that afternoon. The three nearly dragged me to the library because they'd seen Marcus kiss me, and Becky had to rush after them in order to catch up. We were shouting at each other... in whispers.

"Since Christmas! For crying out loud, I thought he went and boasted it around to everyone!" I said. "I thought – for some reason – that you were being kind enough to not mention it."

"Well... he did tell us he had a girlfriend but since he thought none of us knew you he didn't happen to mention your name. Thought he would have a laugh at telling the Gryffindor team that he had a girlfriend and none of us did. I never had the thought it would be _you_ though. Of all people! You!" George said.

"Are you embarassed of him?" Fred asked.

"No, but I'd rather not have to discuss him in our limited time together because I knew you would interrogate me like _this_!" I gesture to the three of them. They back away. "In any case, I had thought that you knew, so I had the idea that... that perhaps even Becky may have told you."

"Melody –" Becky started to say.

I held a hand up. "I guess since she's been so secretive anyways, she didn't think of it either. Marcus kissed me out in the open like that because I confronted him and Draco about the tension between them. Marcus has been glaring at him as though he's untrustworthy, and I suspect Becky to know why, but of course she pretends not to and doesn't tell me. Maybe she'll tell you! Who knows? But I am certainly _left_ out of the circle." I hurried on out of the library.

In the common room, I was just finishing up grading papers (with difficulty in such a crowded room) when Marcus came into the common room. He stopped for a second, looking at something on the wall where everyone else was crowded around, and then sat down next to me.

"What's got everything crowding about a wall?" I asked, still concentrating on the papers. I was counting how many they got right out of the twenty questions they answered.

"Hogsmeade is next weekend," he said, putting an arm around me. "Do you think you'll be done with homework by then?" he asked teasingly.

I wrote a fifteen on the paper I was grading and turned my head to look at him. "I think I can manage that. Or I could always wait until Sunday afternoon to finish whatever work I have left... so many possibilities."

He smiled and said, "Do you think perhaps we could go alone? Just you and me? No Becky, no Draco, no anybody."

"It would save us from any complaints of us showing public affection." I said, rather matter-of-fact.

Marcus burst out laughing. "Exactly! I was sort of thinking that it would allow us to go wherever we wanted without other opinions, but that works too."

My smile was wide, he'd made it seem like though it wasn't his idea it was a great reason.

I mostly wanted to stay away from Becky and Draco. Becky wasn't telling me anything of what went on between the two of them... and Draco must have done something to make Marcus angry at him. He could have possibly insulted him like he did with Buckbeak, he could get extra annoying with his jokes sometimes.

"Also... I've been wondering what made you angry with Draco," I said, recalling that I never asked him. "Becky won't tell me a thing, and I know she knows."

He let out a sigh. "It was... something Draco said and – and I admit I freaked out at him too much."

_He's telling me!_ "What was it?"

"Well, this is my second year repeating sixth and... and he hadn't known that I wasn't in my seventh year."

_News to me_, I thought to myself.

"We were in trouble, and he'd said 'at least this is your last year, it's not going to be that bad.' I told him I _would_ be here next year and he said aloud, though accidentally, 'oh no, you'll _still_ be dating Melody?!' I asked him what was wrong with me dating you, that's when his face flushed, he went silent, and I got _so angry_." Marcus said, pulling me closer to him.

"Wait... so Draco –" Marcus kissed me before I finished my sentence. _Draco doesn't like that Marcus and I are dating... well, too bad for him,_ I thought before my mind went blank during the kiss.

On Saturday morning after breakfast, Marcus and I left to Hogsmeade with no one else. Marcus told Draco it would just be me and him, and I suppose then that Draco told Becky because she didn't try going with us.

There's not much to tell about the Hogsmeade visit as Marcus and I just walked around in each shop, hanging about a bit and buying whatever we could.

Although, we had just walked out of the Three Broomsticks when Draco, Vincent, and Greg just zipped past us. They ran towards the castle with such haste, I wondered what could have possibly set them off.

Marcus and I gave a glance at each other, then we laced our hands together and ran after them.

With a couple laughs, we caught up to them and they continued running.

"What are you doing?" Marcus asked.

"We just – saw – Potter's head!" Draco said. "Must – go tell – Snape!"

"Just Potter's head?" Marcus asked with a smirk, starting to pant but not as badly as Draco. "Wouldn't that just mean that he's been beheaded?"

I laughed and stopped running. I had a tight hold on Marcus' hand, so he had to stop seconds after I did, almost falling over backwards. He turned to me and I said, "We don't need to go on a wild goose chase with those three. We still have some time left in Hogsmeade together... we shouldn't waste it on a Potter sighting."

He looked back and forth between me and the path the boys followed to get to the castle.

I smiled at him playfully and backed back up to Hogsmeade, pulling him along with me. Marcus slowly smiled mischievously and I laughed, letting go to run away from him. He chased after me into Honeydukes, where I spotted Becky and hid behind her.

"Melody!" Becky said in surprise, giggling as I shushed her.

Suddenly I noticed Fred and George alongside her, they snuck away as Marcus came over to us and the both of us circled around Becky until he got hold of me.

Pulling me close, he said, "I've never checked, but I'd like to know if you're ticklish."

"Oh..." I said softly, and looked at him, "Oh no – _aha_!" I hated being so ticklish.


	14. Chapter 14

"The bloody hippogriff is going to be executed," Draco said with a malicious smirk that night in the common room. He had just gotten a letter from his dad and his smug expression said enough about it. "I knew father would bring justice."

"Uh huh..." I said, distractedly working on some other papers to grade. I'd had my students also write essays and I was grading how effective they were.

Becky sat down next to me and looked down at the papers, "Honestly you're smarter than all of us."

"No, I'm not..." I said, still not paying a lot of attention.

"Another great thing is, I told Snape about seeing Potter and he saw to it straight away. Who knows? Potter may be getting expelled finally." Draco said with relish at the thought.

"Yes, yes, that'll be wonderful." I said.

"Is she even listening?" Draco asked.

"I don't think so... she's too busy grading these essays." Becky said. "Honestly, you'd think her to actually be a teacher rather than a student."

"Agreed," Draco said softly.

"I may be working but I _can still_ understand that you are talking about me." I said, putting an 'E' on the paper.

"Exceeds Expectations?!" Becky said in surprise, "Whose is this?"

"Ginny Weasley's..." I said, putting the second year papers together. "The same grade has been given to Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey. Now, let's see about Anthony Otterburn's, he probably did a perfect job, too."

"Melody..." Becky said, taking the second year essays and looking through them, "You are an _exceptional_ tutor."

"Speaking of that, how are your studies doing Draco?" I asked, looking up at him.

He sheepishly looked down at his hands. "Pretty good..."

Becky took a quill and threw it at him, "Okay! Okay! I need you to help me!"

"And I have no problem with doing that. Let's say free time every Wednesday, I'll tutor you. Is that fair enough?" I asked.

"Yes, thank you." Draco said softly.

"I need a tutor, too," Marcus said, strutting into the common room as if he owned the world. "Would you tutor me, Melody?"

"Um.. I'll have to check with Professor Snape, he'd set me to work with Draco last year and would only give me four extra students. But, you know I would love to tutor you, perhaps that can also help me learn more sixth year spells and potions." I said, getting excited.

"How would that help you when he knows nothing about it?" Draco asked.

"It'd be in his book, and you know how I read," I explained, "Anyways, the best way to learn something is if you teach it."

"So it would be helpful for the both of us," Marcus said with a great big smile. "Here, let's go talk to Snape now."

"Not now!" I said almost hysterically, "I still have one more essay to do!"

"The essay can't wait?"

"Absolutely not!" I said, bending down over the essay to read it before he could pull me away.

He chuckled and sat down next to me to wait instead. I read through Anthony's which was pretty thoroughly done, he'd come a long way from the kid who wouldn't even open a text book. He had come to look forward to tutoring lessons with me and excelled in his classes, even more so in Herbology which he actually craved much more than the other lessons.

An 'E' went on his paper as well, and Marcus instantly picked me up – scattering the pages all over the floor – threw me over his shoulder, and walked away.

"Marcus! Ugh... Becky, can you _please_ organize all my papers before I come back?" I asked just before Marcus and I were out of the common room. This was such an embarassing position to be in... "Marcus, will you put me down?"

He chuckled, bending to let me down.

"I was going to get going as soon as I had all my papers organized, there was no need –" I began, stopped by Marcus' kiss. When he pulled away, I mumbled, "You ought to stop kissing me in the middle of my sentences."

"Nah," he said humorously, grabbing my hand and pulling me along to Professor Snape's office.

"Professor!" Marcus said, walking into his office.

"Mr. Flint. Miss Riddle. What a surprise." Professor Snape said, sounding fairly sarcastic. He also looked very put out... angry.

Knowing Marcus had recently gotten in trouble, it didn't deem a good idea that he ask Professor Snape. Whatever it was he was angry about, I hoped that it wouldn't be let out on us. "We were wondering if I could tutor Marcus along with the five other students I'm tutoring."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Mr. Flint, step outside, I shall talk with Miss Riddle alone."

Marcus nodded and walked out, closing the office door behind him.

"Five? So I take it you are going to continue tutoring Mr. Malfoy... but how do you believe you will be able to tutor a sixth year? You are not _that_ advanced." Professor Snape said.

"Yes, I am," I retorted, sitting down in the seat in front of his desk. "I already know most sixth year spells and potions, besides – and you should realize this – the best way to learn something is to teach it. You remember everything you teach as you teach it again and again, teaching is the best way to learn and remember."

His lips tightened.

"Professor, I also remember what I read, and if I read the books Marcus has then I'll be fine tutoring him." I said.

"But will you actually be tutoring him, or will you be messing around?"

I tilted my head to the side, giving him a look. "Don't you trust me? I've never messed around when tutoring Draco."

"Yes, but Draco is not your boyfriend."

"_How_ are you getting into my business?" I asked. He may have kissed me in public that one time, but that didn't mean we were dating, and he can't have just assumed. "I don't let anything interfere with schoolwork anyways. If he tries to go off subject, I'll pull him straight, I'm not about to let him walk all over me."

He sighed, "All right, Miss Riddle, you may tutor Mr. Flint... at the same time as you tutor Draco."

I leaned back in my chair, "Fine... that's settled then, now I'd like to know what's gotten you so angry and sullen."

"Not your business."

Exasperated, I stood up and left his office.

During the Easter holidays, I was head high in homework – as were all the third years – yet with not only class work but also extra tutoring work in grading papers and doing many essays for Professor Snape.

Though, I do have to say, my workload was nothing compared to Hermione's. Though I was also a tutor, she was taking way more classes than anyone else was. She may be smart, but it's a little too much for her to be giving herself such a burden... Okay, it's a _lot_ too much, but she won't hear a word of it from Becky and I that she should cut down on her classes.

"I have no time to worry over _this_!" Draco shouted out during our tutor time, with him and Marcus. "We have Quidditch practice, there's no _time_ for _homework_!"

I sighed. I agreed, and yet I didn't, homework was the only way I spent my time during the week anyways besides time with my friends – okay, mostly Marcus – but Marcus and Draco also had Quidditch practice as the match was the weekend after the holidays against Gryffindor. Slytherin was ahead by two hundred points, but Gryffindor could still get ahead.

Slytherins had made a point to each other of trying to get Harry – the Gryffindor seeker – alone to try putting him out of action. I told this to Fred and George who instantly took it up with their Gryffindor captain, getting people to accompany Harry just about _everywhere_.

"Thanks, our trusty Gryffindor spy," they said jokingly, but gratefully.

"Har har, very witty," I said.

"It would be of good use to us to have a spy," Fred said.

"Especially for two spies – you and Becky," George added.

"I have a feeling you're just in love with us, and _that's_ why you're so eager to change our Hogwarts House." I said.

"Oh yes, so in love we're head over heels," said George.

Fred continued, "And we're just so _mortified_ of your relationship with Flint, we're ready to steal you away from under his nose."

"Have fun with that. Marcus will notice and fight you _tooth_ and _nail_."

"Let him – we'll obviously win."

Melody laughed, joking around with the twins had its charms.

At breakfast, before the match, Marcus said, "You'd better be there at the match to cheer us on – "

"Or what?" I asked, humored by the idea he could – would – do anything to me.

Shrugging his shoulders, he stood up, "Well, if we win I'll give you a victory kiss... team, let's go!"

"Bet we win?" Draco asked smugly.

"I bet nothing," I told him with a smile. "Go get 'em!"

_A little encouragement gives no harm_, I thought to myself as they left to the Quidditch lockers.

"I think this whole thing was a bad idea," Becky said softly.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Draco's arm... they could've had the first game of the year between Slytherin and Gryffindor but didn't because Draco faked his arm injury. They should have done that first game and then been able to get more point afterwards."

"You want us to win?" I asked with a smile.

"Not really, we've already won the cup many years in a row, it's just our team plans poorly with Draco on it."

I laughed. "Is it always Draco's fault?"

"They did better before Draco became Slytherin's seeker is all I'm saying, and you know it's true. He's not all that good when compared to Harry Potter."

I nodded, "Just don't want to crush Draco's spirit."

"Marcus should take up the courage to kick him out."

"And get his dad involved? You know Draco will get his dad involved... and then Marcus would be in deep doo doo."

"He should though!" Becky said. "Draco isn't doing so great at Quidditch as he thinks he is."

"Draco loves Quidditch, they can't just take it away from him. Let him do what he pleases."

"Melody... Draco didn't even try out, he was instantly taken in."

I sighed, "I know... oh well, the ways of the world aren't always followed by people, rules are always broken no matter what any officer or dementor does."

The Quidditch match was such a big deal, as Melody, Becky, Vincent, and Greg sat in the bleachers watching everyone was cheering for their preffered teams.

I never noticed how loud it was until that very match, every time I'd gone to a match I was so engaged with my work I never paid attention to the games. The only reason I couldn't get away with it was that it was because it was the last game of the year, against Slytherin's most hated House of Gryffindor... _that_ and Marcus made me promise I'd watch him win.

Lee Jordan, a friend of Fred and George and in their year, was the commentator for all the matches I'd ever been to. He suddenly yelled out to the crowd (through a megaphone of course), "And here are the Gryffindors! Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged at the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years –"

His words drowned out from the boos of the Slytherins around me, even Vincent and Greg gave some very lows boos.

"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint." Lee said. I couldn't help noticing he wouldn't even say the names of those on the Slytherin teams, they were equally as important. "He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill –"

More boos from us Slytherins, I gave a small boo myself and Becky burst out laughing.

"Fred and George must have snitched something to Lee," I muttered. When Becky looked at me inquisitively, I said, "They were joking around once and decided to ask me how Marcus was conducting his teams practices... since you know he made me get up in the mornings to go watch, which I honestly think he looks bigger than the others because he keeps carrying me to it."

Becky couldn't help her laughter, and when she calmed down I continued.

"They'd been curious because he noticed all but Draco had gotten bigger in muscles, so I told him that half of the practice was flying and the other half Draco continued flying while Flint had them doing push-ups, running and –"

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch said.

I watched with intrigue as Marcus and Oliver Wood walked up to each other and took one another's hand, looking as though they were squeezing the others hand until it broke... Marcus would've won there if that was was they were doing.

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch broke the tense silence. "Three... two... one..." Her whistle sounded, but disappeared into the roar of all the students and teachers as the brooms flew into the air to start the game.

Quidditch – in fact all sports – had absolutely no interest in them to me. I just watched Marcus at first, and then cringed as he smashed into the Gryffindor chaser, Angelina Johnson – who'd just scored – , who almost fell off her broom from the impact.

"Sorry! Sorry, didn't see her!" he said. He looked around and when he spotted me, he winked. _That rascal_, I thought with a laugh, winking back at him.

Fred saw this and gave a mock expression of being shocked at Marcus' audacity to wink at me. He looked to me, did a wink and beat at his chest like a gorilla – then he suddenly swung his bat _just_ before it hit him, it Marcus at the back of his head. Marcus' nose smashed into his broom handle, now starting to bleed. _He'll survive,_ I thought to myseld, looking at him and seeing him instantly going after someone else. Fred waggled his eyebrows as if to say, 'More impressive, right?' My mouth had been hanging open, and he took that as his victory.

"That will do!" I heard Madam Hooch shriek at him. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to _their_ chaser."

"Come off it, Miss!" Fred called out to her.

"This game is so complicated," I muttered to Becky. "What is a beater for if not to hit it at the other team?"

She wasn't listening to me, I followed her line of sight to see she was watching George's every move. I smiled mischievously and turned my head to look at her, she still wasn't noticing me, keeping an eye on George – as if she may have to protect him should anything happen in the game.

Shaking my head at this new discovery, I searched the field to find Draco following Harry who seemed to have just seen the snitch. The beaters had other plans in mind however, two of my least favorite people on the team – Marcus' roommates – were beating bludgers toward Harry and then started closing in on him.

At the last possible second, Harry turned his broom upward and Derrick and Bole – the roommates – collided. Becky and I burst out laughing.

Lee gave a "Ha haaa!" and said, "Too bad, boys! You'll need to get up earlier than that to beat a Firebolt! And its Gryffindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the quaffle – Flint alongside her – poke him in the eye, Angelina! – it was a joke, Professor, it was a joke – oh no – Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal posts, come on now, Wood, save – !"

Marcus scored, contrary to Lee's hopes. The game was more dangerous and dirty with rule-breaking than before – not only that but dirtied even more with Lee's curses. Professor McGonagall tried tugging the megaphone from him when he said, "Sorry, professor, sorry! Won't happen again! So, Gryffindor, in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession – "

I looked to Draco, who continued keeping close to Harry, seeing his strong concentration and the hope in his eyes.

Looking to the score, I saw it was suddenly seventy-ten.

Back to Draco – and Harry – they looked around, then it seemed Harry had spotted it again because he headed off in one direction, Draco following closely behind. Then Draco did the most stupid thing – not more stupid than insulting a hippogriff, but in relationship to Quidditch – he threw himself forward, grabbing Harry's broom. They slowed significantly and Harry looked to Draco with horror, trying to hit him but unable to reach. He'd lost sight of the snitch.

I looked down at my hands and heaved out a sigh, shaking my head as I heard many shouts and curses pointed to Draco. Looking up, Becky had been watching me and quickly turned to look at the game before – I don't know what that expression on her face was, but it didn't look good.

"I'm going to kill him," she decided in a whisper to me so Vincent and Greg couldn't hear us. They wouldn't have heard even if we were shouting though with the rapt attention they gave to the game.

I chuckled, "Not if the Gryffindor teams beats you to it – actually, scratch that – not if the Gryffindor _House_ beats you to it."

With a small smile, she asked, "Do you think they'd burn him?"

"No... he knows the Flame Freezing Charm."

"Let me guess, you recently taught him the charm?"

"Oh no, remember it was in our homework this summer if you remember... he never wanted to tell you, but he tested it and couldn't stop himself from doing it. It's like a drug I guess, because of the gentle, tickling sensation it gives –"

"Don't you dare go into an explanation of it," she said with a laugh. "Marcus'd be very unhappy you were giving me a history lesson during the lesson."

"A lesson you already know," I mumbled.

"I know, but still." Becky chuckled.

"_She scores! She scores! _Gryffindor leads by eighty points to twenty!" Lee shouted out excitedly.

Draco was diving to the ground, a look of triumph on his face – possibly the snitch, I looked to Harry who'd already started racing across the field to overtake him. That Firebolt really _was_ fast, he got there in no time at all and caught the snitch, knocking Draco's outstretched arm out of the way first.

Gryffindor had won the match and the Quidditch Cup.

Marcus and Draco were _furious_, that was easily seen.

I stood up, "I'd best calm Marcus, you can do Draco."

"Why do I get Draco?" she asked.

"_You_ can beat some sense into him, and as for Marcus he did promise a victory kiss. Though he didn't win, he does have an injury that could make him dangerous to others." I said, going from the bleachers to where Marcus was pacing back and forth at one corner of the field, looking to the Gryffindor's celebration with hatred. He then proceeded to beat at the walls next to him.

"Marcus," I said.

He turned around suddenly to face me, his face contorted with anger. He looked about ready to attack anything, even me.

I took out my wand, pointed it at his bloodied nose and said, "Episkey!" He staggered back, his nose had stopped bleeding, but there was some dried blood left behind. I slowly approached him, once we were face to face, I pointed my wand at his nose again and said, "Tergeo," softly. The blood washed away and his face was back to its normal state.

He touched his nose, and then dropped his hand down. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Your welcome," I said, bringing my hand up to caress his cheek.

"I'm sorry for almost attacking you, I –" he said quickly, before I interrupted him with a kiss on his lips, holding his face in my hands. He stood there, shocked, for about a minute and slowly wrapped his arms around my lower back and kissed back passionately.

I pulled back, with difficulty as Marcus held tight to me, to study his face. He seemed to have forgotten all his anger about the match. "The game doesn't matter," I said, "I am with you for you, not because of your strength or agility in Quidditch. For your humor and wonderful personality to match all that you are."

His eyes seemed to melt with care for me, and enjoying what I'd just said.

"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever met... my own melody... your voice, even without all that you have just said is music to my ears. Sweet and kind while most others are not.. yet firm when you want to be." Marcus said, bringing a hand under my chin. "Your eyes take me to a whole other world..."

He gave another kiss on my lips as we heard even louder cheering, though we knew it was not for us we broke off to laugh.

"We'd best get back to the common room or they'll come storming over here," I said.

"Yup," he replied, picking me up bridal style and walking back up to the castle.

"I'm not your wife." I teased.

He looked down at me and said, "You're my melody, Melody."


	15. Chapter 15

Summer was coming closer, the month of June wafting the warm air into the windows of the castle... but all we could do was study for our tests. There was no time to go relax outside on the grounds or by the lake as exams were so close.

Hermione was taking several exams at once – much like the rest of the year – and continuously left her books at the library with us. We kept having to find her later to give them back, whether it was the twins, Becky, or myself. Honestly, she was such a mess I felt bad about how all the rest of us had it easy compared to her.

Though, I may have it hard pretty soon. Professor Snape had me stay after our last Potions class of the year to tell me:

"Next year you will take your O.W.L.s and your fifth year will be your N.E.W.T.s, I believe you will be ready for it. You will still take regular classes in your year, but you will have intensive sessions with me every weekend."

I just stared at him wide-eyed. "Aaaand... what am I supposed to do for my last two years of Hogwarts?"

"Whatever you would like," he said nonchalantly. "You could leave school early to do what you want early or stay at school and continue tutoring. You have two years to figure that out, there's no rush."

My head spun, "Why couldn't you have told me this after the _exams_?"

He gave a smirk, "I didn't expect you to plan to worry about it so soon. The O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s will be nothing to you. Your exams are already done perfectly. You get an Outstanding for every class."

I gave a slow nod, "And my students are getting Exceeds Expectations, did you know?... How are they doing in class?"

"Exceptionally well, even Mr. Otterburn. Great job, Melody."

My mouth went up into a big smile before I could help myself. He finally said my first name, and I had won the bet.

"Don't even say it," he warned softly, looking down at some papers.

I laughed.

Becky couldn't even make the time to tease Draco, she was so busy studying for exams. Draco mostly stared at the study guides in front of him, lost in daydreams.

"Get out of Draco Land," I would say, causing him to jump and then actually concentrate.

Marcus was being so studious it made me proud to see he was trying so hard to be able to pass. Hopefully he wouldn't slack off again during the exams – apparently like the year before so he could stay on the Quidditch team an extra year and continue to bully kids. He could surprisingly concentrate with his arm around me while I just about couldn't.

"You don't need to study, you're already going to get an Outstanding in everything," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, seriously Mel just take a break," Draco added, seated in an armchair next to us. "You could just help us study, that would help _immensely_. Especially me, because at least you and I are studying the same things."

I laughed, "Alright Draco, alright. What do you need help with?"

"I still don't understand the Cheering Charms... how much power are you supposed to put into the spell? If you recall, when I cast the spell on you, you burst into fits of laughter and couldn't stop until the spell wore off." Draco said.

Marcus couldn't help himself, "I wish I could've seen that!"

I punched him in the arm and got up to stand next to Draco.

"Oh, come off it Melody –"

"Nope," I said shortly. "It wasn't funny at all, do you know how hard I was laughing? No, you don't, you weren't there. I could hardly breathe. A person could die laughing, you know – not that I'm blaming Draco terribly about it, but it is good to practice. Professor Flitwick _did_ hint that Cheering Charms would be on the final."

Marcus gave out a long sigh, but said nothing.

"The best thing is to give as less as possible into the spell, not so little that you can't even produce a smile out of your target but you probably get the jist of it." I said, kneeling down on the floor next to Draco and resting my arms and head on the arm of the armchair. "Making someone laugh as hard as I did makes the Cheering Charm a great weapon on an enemy, but for a small test it's good to practice it lightly for the exam."

Draco gave small snickers, almost unable to control himself. "That's a great idea," he said, "To use it for an enemy, I mean."

I smiled. Draco met my eyes and we broke into fits of laughter.

Marcus suddenly stood up and walked away from us to a corner of the room.

"Oh, um –" Draco began nervously.

"Don't worry," I said, "Let him blow off some steam. I'll make sure no one gets attacked because you and I have annoyed him in some way."

"More like _you've_ annoyed him –"

"Oh, shush," I said, standing up to calm Marcus down. Draco laughed.

Exam week came finally, and the whole time it was so quiet that anyone would hear a flower petal fall to the ground if it happened.

Everyone moaned about how they did in each of their exams – well, everyone but me. I did the exams and relaxed about that particular subject afterwards, constantly taking weights off of my shoulders. This being only because I seem to be the only one to know that once it's done there's nothing else I can do if it was terrible. I at least knew that I was so far doing perfectly on the spells I cast for class.

For Charms we did do the Cheering Charms, which I saw Draco also do perfectly.

In Transfiguration we had to turn a teapot into a tortoise.

For Astronomy at midnight, we stated which constellations were which.

History of Magic, we wrote about whatever topic we felt most comfortable about and gave many details.

With Care of Magical Creatures, we had the easiest exam ever – keep our flobberworms alive to the end of the lesson, of which best stayed alive by being left to themselves.

In Potions, Professor Snape had us do a Confusing Concoction and after I finished mine he scribbled what looked to be full marks in his notes.

Herbology was in the greenhouse, dealing with plants in specific and careful ways – making sure ours didn't wither and die... all of Draco's died, Becky called him a killer and gave pretend sobs while Draco scowled at her.

For Defense Against the Dark Arts we had to go through an obstacle course, which was about the oddest exam anyone had ever done, and again full marks. Professor Lupin gave me extra because I took extra time in there with which he came in to watch me change the boggart again and again into scarier things but still laughed at them or I gave a disgusted noise at the back of my throat which made him laugh.

With Arithmancy, we did many numerical charts for Professor Babbling and stated what number each creature standed for.

I felt very secure about the way I did afterwards, and went to talk to Professor Snape.

I heard a sudden squeak of the floor that wasm't my own and stopped in my tracks, I looked around and saw a sort of break in the air. _So this is how you can spot an invisible person_, I thought interestedly. "Reveal yourself or I will."

Out from under an invisibility cloak came Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Don't you dare say anything?" Ron warned.

I smiled and whispered, "I won't say a word to anyone. What's up?"

Ron was about to retort when Hermione said, "Hagrid lost the appeal set for today. Buckbeak is going to be executed."

My mouth dropped open, "_What_? But all our hard work –"

"_Your_ hard work?" Ron asked, aghast.

"What? I helped too... go ahead, you know I won't stop you."

"But you could tell on us." Harry said.

I rolled my eyes, "I also could've told on you when you illegally used polyjuice potion last year. And guess what! I didn't." The boys still watched me suspiciously, and all Hermione could do was make sure they didn't attack me. "In any case, I'm going to see Professor Snape. Luckily for you he's not going to be around to see you go out because I'm keeping him busy. Cheerio!" I'd always wanted to use that to say good bye.

I reached Professor Snape's office, and he looked up as I closed the door behind me. The grades were already decided, even for the History of Magic essays considering Professor Binns didn't need to sleep. Professor Snape said he would figure out my grades from the other teachers and let me know beforehand. He'd jokingly said it was in case I did horribly so I wouldn't be taking the O.W.L.s early.

"Excellent, you're here," he said, searching through the piles of paper on his desk.

"I didn't realize how disorganized you get at the end of the year," I said with a smile.

He scoffed, "You have no idea how much I need to grade. Perhaps if _you_ become a teacher you'll get disorganized at the end of the year as well."

"I have a bunch of books all over the place and I still know where they are," I said. "Even the _Invisible Book of Invisibility_. I certainly have to make sure I know where that one is or I'll lose it and never find it again."

"How did you get that?" he asked, looking up at me with the actual look of surprise.

"My mom went to the bookstore to get me a Christmas present and the manager had actually found some of the _Invisible Books of Invisibility_ and she bought one. Although I don't know _why_, because I know it was probably a very expensive book." I explained.

He smiled at me, "She loves you."

I didn't know what to think of that. He had a caring look in his eyes, that were directed at me. For that I was just speechless and he, of course, could see that.

"Now..." he said, "I have to go talk to Professor Trelawney about something."

"The Divination teacher? What do you need from her?" I asked, knowing from Hermione how wacko she was.

"Professor Dumbledore has me collecting grades from each of the teachers every year," he grabbed a pad of paper, ink and a quill as he said this. "I save her for last because when it's only a few people in the room she doesn't make all these wild predictions. She has had serious predictions – which are where she isn't completely herself – but when she is herself, they're just some guesses that _sometimes _come true."

"Like what?" I ask as we leave the office and I follow him to Professor Trelawney's classroom.

"Every year, she just _has_ to predict for the first day of class with new third year students that one of them is going to die. None of them are dead yet. She predicted this year that Mr. Potter has the Grim."

I snorted. The Grim was a death omen, a big black dog where if you saw it you died. It was in _Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming_, and the only thing I believed it to be was that you saw it and died of fright. "The _Grim_, indeed. I'm glad I didn't sign up for that class, it sounds like a bunch of rubbish."

"It mostly is," he agreed. "But sometimes she makes some very true predictions..."

I noticed his face sort of go blank after that and decided I shouldn't press him any further. We went up the staircases to the North Tower. It was another relief to me that I hadn't chosen the class just so I didn't have to go up so many steps to class and then worry about being late to a class after that.

Up at the top of the tower, I gasped for breath having had to keep up with Professor Snape. I was not in good shape for running.

On the ceiling was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it reading 'Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher.'

"Huh..." I thought aloud as it suddenly opened and a silver ladder descended to the ground.

Professor Snape went up first, and I followed into the fairly odd Divination classroom. About twenty small, circular tables were in the claustrophobically small room. The room was filled with many teacups and gave off a perfume that really just made me sick.

Then a very thin woman walked up to us. She wore large glasses which magnified her eyes by tenfold. Every time she moved, her bangles on her wrists, the beads on her necklace, and the spangles on her shawl.

"My dear," she said to me. "How wonderful to see you in the physical world. I can feel your brightness, much like one of my former students, except I can _feel_ your Inner Eye. You have more belief in the future, that you do. You have been reading Divination books I presume?"

"Uh, yes," I said. "In my spare time."

"Pity you aren't taking Divination, you would be great use here. Your Inner Eye will strengthen in approximately one month."

I was taken aback so I just walked away behind Professor Snape so she wouldn't talk to me anymore. As he talked to her I just surveyed the small room, it was so stuffy I wasn't sure I should stay in there for very long. How Professor Trelawney could stay in this room for most of her time was unbelievable.

_What did she mean by that? The Inner Eye **is** something few people get in a lifetime, but **me**? There is no possible way that **I** could have the Inner Eye otherwise I'd be more aware of it. Right?_ It wasn't something that was too important at that moment though, it would be better to think of it a month from now.

"Thank you, Trelawney, I will be on my way now," I heard Professor Snape say softly, now gliding away from her.

I started to follow him down the ladder when Professor Trelawney called out, "My dear, if you could stay for a moment?"

_Drat!_ I thought, turning around and walking back to her.

"You aren't taking my class, and though I don't see you as being a part of my class in the future, you will come to me when you need help with your Inner Eye. I see you won't be very willing, but you are a curious one and like for your questions to be answered though you won't press until you get them. You are patient, and that is best for a true Seer."

"Professor," I said, breathing in and out slowly. She certainly had a bit of the sight as she described me pretty perfectly. "I don't know what makes you believe I have the Inner Eye. I've never shown any sign of it."

"Are you quite sure? No having a feeling you should bring something? Something that certainly was needed at the time?"

I thought about it and froze. The only time I could remember something like that was with the key to my Gringott's vault. I explained it to her and she nodded vigorously... I just took it out of my trunk right before my first year at Hogwarts and it was exactly what was needed. "But that was over two years ago..."

"Your Inner Eye is still developing, but since you remember that it must be a very important event."

_Not as important as some other events,_ I thought.

Suddenly, as though she were having a seizure, Professor Trelawney went rigid; her eyes unfocused and her mouth just open – reminding me of what someone looks like when their mouth is open and they're asleep. It was something Marcus did.

Her voice was harsh, unlike her real soft voice... "_The Dark Lord will return to power once again. The one born to him will take his unchained servant to him tonight before midnight. They will be rejoined, and their strength together will help the Dark Lord rise again. He will be stronger and more terrible than ever before. The one born to him will become as unstoppable as he... will be as feared as he... but with a twist in leading..._"

Professor Trelawney's head snapped back up and I gaped at her.

"So sorry, dear, I drifted off again. You know this happened during one of my exams today," she gave a small laugh. "The poor boy must have drifted off too, because he thought I said something about the Dark Lord returning to power... are you all right?"

My mouth opened and closed a couple of times in shock before I could ask, "Did that boy happen to be Harry Potter?"

"Why yes, my dear. See? You're Inner Eye is starting to bloom now."

"Oh no, that's no Sight, that's pure guess work that I got right." I said, sprinting out of there. Professor Snape was at the bottom of the ladder and looked at me with surprising worry.

"Something happen?" he asked.

_I should tell him,_ I thought,_ just not about the part where the one born to the Dark Lord helps the servant back to him. It's most definitely Peter Pettigrew, I suppose I'll find him tonight._ "S-She just made a real prediction... she wasn't herself. She suddenly went rigid and her voice was harsh –"

His face paled and he dropped his stuff to grab onto my shoulders. "_What did she say_?" he asked hurriedly.

"The Dark Lord's servant will return to him tonight before midnight to bring him back to power." I said, my voice cracking. I was still shocked – so she was a crackhead, but she made some real predictions... without her realization.

Professor Snape then proceeded to grab my arm and hurry away, leaving his stuff at the foot of Professor Trelawney's ladder.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to pay a little visit to Professor Lupin," he growled.

* * *

**Hi, lisa602 here, just so you know - if you didn't look at my profile - I signed up for an account on ask . fm for if any of you wanted to ask any questions to me. The pen name is still lisa602 under my name Marisol Madison.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter - the plot thickens for Melody. We'll see what happens in the next chapter when she and Professor Snape find out where Professor Lupin is... dun dun DUN!**


	16. Chapter 16

It was hard to keep up with his pace, but I felt that if I were to just stop walking he'd still drag me without stopping. We reached Professor Lupin's office... he wasn't there but a map was. Professor Snape instantly went over to it and opened it up. It was a map of Hogwarts, at the top it read _The Marauder's Map_ and I looked over it as well.

I could see where everyone was, names were above everyone's heads. The names Severus Snape and Melody Riddle were in Professor Lupin's office, and Professor Lupin's name was walking toward the Whomping Willow. I started to wonder if Peter was in the Shrikeing Shack...

Professor Snape ran off, and I quickly followed him. "Melody, stay in my office!" he shouted.

"I'm coming with you," I said, latching my arm to his. "I won't leave even if you threaten me with taking points off from Slytherin."

He rolled his eyes but I could see a trace of a smile threaten to come out on his face.

Professor Snape slowed down to a quick walk as we neared the Shrieking Shack. His cape billowed behind him and he looked almost murderous.

"So you think Professor Lupin is behind all of Sirius Black's getaways?" I asked.

"How did you work that out?" he asked in surprise.

"Well, the first person you thought of when I told you that prophecy was Professor Lupin. And since Sirius Black is likely the servant Professor Trelawney was talking about –" _not_, "– you think Professor Lupin is helping him. But why?"

He stopped and looked around, "Do you know why Professor Lupin has been missing classes at some points in the year?"

"Yes, he's a werewolf, go on." I said, though I really knew why he thought so. I just wanted to know why he hated Professor Lupin so much. Yes, he was friends with Sirius Black but I felt there was some deep hate in it that was obviously more than having been friends with Sirius. I also felt it somehow involved Harry, that his deep hate for Remus Lupin and Sirius Black included Harry Potter in that circle.

"Impressive that you understood... in any case, Lupin and Black were close friends when they went to Hogwarts. They were close friends with Potter and Pettigrew who Black killed – turning the Potter family in to the Dark Lord and killing Pettigrew afterwards.

"When we were in school, I knew something was wrong with Lupin when he kept missing classes throughout the years. The one time I saw Madam Pomfrey leaving the school with him, leading him to the Whomping Willow, Black told me the way to get in and so I did go.

"I was nearly there when Potter came to rescue me, having heard what Black did. I almost came face-to-face with Lupin as a fully grown werewolf because of that stunt and could have either lost my life or have become a werewolf as well."

"But Potter saved you –"

"He was saving his own neck from getting expelled!" he shouted, leaving me standing there. "Don't you _dare_ follow me in, or I will disarm you and put a body-bind on you until I get back. It's for your own safety, Melody."

"Ugh, _Severus_!" I shouted.

"_What?_" he asked, stopping to turn and face me.

I hesitated, and then said, "Good luck!"

He stared at me, nodded and then quickly set off again. He stopped at one point and picked up something – Harry's invisibility cloak. Placing it over himself, he continued forward unseeable... but I could kind of see his movements. Invisibility helps unless you can see the break in the air where extra matter is it seemed.

I stood there, pacing back and forth in silent thought. If I really was a Seer, then it would've been helpful to be able to see at that moment.

"Melody..." The voice broke me out of thought and I looked around. Finally, I looked down at the ground where there was Nagini – dad.

"Dad," I said in Parseltongue, bending down. "What is it?"

"Pettigrew is in the Whomping Willow, you _need_ to get him by tonight. I have some work for him to do already."

I nodded, "I was just with Professor Trelawney, do you know her?"

Nodding, dad as Nagini said, "Yes, she said the prophecy of my fight with Harry Potter. Severus was the one who leaked that information to me."

"_He_ did?" I asked in surprise. Severus? Really?

Another nod, then "She is of great interest to me for another prophecy."

_No, Professor Trelawney should be kept out of this, it would not do for her to be under his command._ "Actually, she told me a few prophecies today. One is that I will become a Seer, like her, which no doubt would be very helpful, and the other is that you will be reunited with your servant tonight before midnight by my help."

He was silent for a moment, and then with a seemingly forced, prideful voice said, "Excellent, Melody... this makes everything easier... get Wormtail –" a nickname for Peter, "– And meet me at our same spot in the forest. I'll be waiting." He slithered away.

I looked to the Whomping Willow in the distance, then I looked to where dad disappeared off to, and back to the Whomping Willow.

I gave a long sigh, and cast the Disillusionment Charm on myself.

The tree didn't see me so I slipped in easily and hurried down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. As I walked, I removed the charm and suddenly heard a loud bang. I instantly starting sprinting, hoping something horrible didn't just happen.


	17. Chapter 17

I then heard, "_Keep quiet, you stupid girl! Don't talk about what you don't understand!"_ I ran faster, _geezes_ Severus was loud. A short bit later, I was close enough to listen – but I was in the shadows so they couldn't hear me. Harry stood in the doorway, blocking Severus who held cords that were attached to Professor Lupin. Severus held his wand tightly; Severus and Hermione stood in the room looking at Severus nervously, and Ron lay on the four poster bed... his leg stuck out at an odd angle.

I had just gotten there as Severus said – very dangerously I must add – "Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works. Get out of the way, Potter."

"_You're pathetic_!" Harry shouted at him. "_Just because they made a fool of you at school you won't even listen –_"

Severus snapped. "_Silence! I will not be spoke to like that!_ Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black – now get out of the way, or I will _make you_. _Get out of the way, Potter_!"

I raised my wand, and with flick of my wrist I cast the disarming charm at Severus at the same time that Harry, Ron, and Hermione did. He was being _so_ very unreasonable. A blast sounded and Severus was lifted off of his feet – _slamming_ into the wall and sliding down to the floor.

"You shouldn't have done that. You should have left him to me..." Sirius said.

Hermione moaned to herself, "We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher... Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble –"

She stopped talking the moment I walked into the room. Harry instantly shouted spells at me, which I deflected.

"Stop!" Sirius said. "She – She's been helping me."

Harry stopped and stared, looking between the two of us. Hermione and Ron did the same.

"You know I'd never attack Professor Snape, I just wanted you guys to be able to hear the truth," I said softly. Then I gave a nod to Severus, "He was being a madman, no choice but to disarm him. I'm surprised he didn't expect that from any one with a wand. Just... ignore me." I knelt down next to Severus and tended to his head. He was still out cold, which was good, but he was bleeding.

Sirius bent down and helped Remus take out his bonds.

"I'm surprised, Melody, I never knew you for helping a criminal," Remus said grimly.

I chuckled, "I knew he wasn't one when I found him. The look in his eyes didn't suggest he'd done anything wrong."

He smiled, "Again, you are an amazing witch," and turned to Harry, "Thank you, Harry."

"I'm still not saying I believe you."

Remus looked to Ron, "Then it's time we offered you some proof. You, boy – give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron kept Peter close, still believing him to be the regular old Scabbers. He said, "Come off it. Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on _Scabbers_? I mean..." He looked at Harry and Hermione to get support and help, there was none, neither were sure. "Okay, say Pettrigrew could turn into a rat – there are millions of rats – how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

Remus turned to Sirius, "You know, Sirius, that's a fair question. How _did_ you find out where he was?"

Sirius pushed his hand into his robes and took out an old, crumpled piece of paper which he uncrumbled and smoothed it out a bit to show to the others. It was a picture of Ron and his family in Egypt, which had been from the previous summer.

"How did you get this?" Remus asked.

"Fudge. When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me this paper. And there was Peter, on the front page... on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was..."

"My God. His front paw..." Remus said softly, looking over the picture.

"What about it?" Ron asked.

"He's got a toe missing," Sirius informed him.

Remus continued to be surprised over it, "Of course. So simple... so _brilliant_... he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," Sirius said. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself – and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Remus asked him. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something!" Ron said defiantly. "He's been in my family for ages, right –"

"Twelve years, in fact. Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?" Remus asked.

"We – we've been taking good care of him!"

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he? I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..." Remus said.

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron said, nodding towards Crookshanks who purred contentedly next to him.

I rolled my eyes, which Ron seemed to notice.

Sirius' voice was hoarse as he said, "This cat isn't mad." He stroked Crookshanks's head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. It made me wonder what she was thinking, I mean she did buy Crookshanks while ignoring the fact he attacked Ron to get to Peter.

"With Melody's help, he understood that I was after Peter and so helped me. He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table... But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it... This cat – Crookshanks, did you call him? – and Melody told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had workd once..."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry asked, angry again. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

Remus said, "No, Harry –"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," Sirius said.

"Sirius, you're not helping yourself," I told him as Harry exploded.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!"

Remus jumped to the rescue, "Harry, don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down – but it was the other way around, don't you se? _Peter_ betrayed your mother and father – Sirius tracked _Peter_ down –"

"_That's not true! He was their secret-keeper! He said so before you turned up. He said he killed them!_" Harry yelled, pointing as Sirius.

Sirius' voice cracked, "Harry... I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it... The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..." His voice broke and he looked away.

"Enough of this. There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, _give me that rat_." Remus said.

"What are you going to do to him if I give him to you?" Ron asked nervously.

"Force him to show himself. If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

With hesitation, Ron gave Peter to Remus. Peter began to continuously squeak, trying so hard to get out of Remus' grasp. "Ready, Sirius?" Remus asked.

Sirius took Severus' wand from the bed and went up to Remus. "Together?"

"I think so," Remus said, holding Peter tightly in one hand and his wand itn the other. "On the count of three. One – two – _three_!"

Both wands emitted a flash of blue-white light, and Peter was frozen in midair. I heard Ron's shouted as Peter hit the floor. With another blinding flash of light, Peter slowly transformed from a rat back to a human.

Peter was very short, likely shorter than me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He had thin, colorless hair and a bald patch on the top of his head. He probably used to be a very plump man just as when he was a rat, though having lost a lot of weight. His pointed nose seemed to be characteristic of the rat he'd been for twelve long years.

"Well, hello, Peter. Long time no see," Remus said, surprisingly pleasant.

"S – Sirius... R – Remus... My friends... my old friends..." Peter said, his voice also squeaky.

Sirius rose his wand arm, but Remus stopped him – seizing him around the wrist with a warning look and continued talking to Peter.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed –"

Peter gasped, beads of sweat running down his forehead. "Remus, you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

Remus was suddenly cold. "So we've heard. I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so –"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter pointed at Sirius with his middle finger, his index having been cut off. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out."

"Sorted things out?" Peter looked wildly about, his eyes always lingering at the door but darting around at all the boarded windows. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban? When nobody has ever done it before?" Remus' brow furrowed.

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

Sirius burst into laughter, "Voldemort, teach me tricks?"

Peter flinched.

"What, scared to hear your old master's name? I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius –"

"You haven't been hiding from _me_ for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potter's on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways... If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter –"

Peter's voice was shrill. "Don't know... what you're talking about... You don't believe this – this madness, Remus –"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat." Remus said.

_Me too_, I thought.

"Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban – the spy, Sirius Black!"

Sirius growled angrily, "How dare you. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself. But you, Peter – I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..."

"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a –"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it. I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd used a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

Peter muttered to himself, sweating like an overgrown pig, his eyes darting everywhere. He was losing this confrontation.

"Professor Lupin? Can – can I say something?" Hermione asked.

"Certainly, Hermione," Remus said.

"Well – Scabbers – I mean, this – this man – he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he's never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

Peter's confidence built up at this. "There! Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," Sirius said. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Peter lost the ability to speak, opening and closing his mouth several times.

"Er – Mr. Black – Sirius?" Hermione asked.

Sirius jumped, and looked at her.

"If you don't mind me asking, how – how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you! Exactly! Precisely what I –" Peter began, but Remus silenced him with a look.

Sirius pondered his answer, and said slowly, "I don't know how I did it. I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know... They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my feelings were less – less human, less complex when I was a dog... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again...

"...ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies... and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors...

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive...

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an obsession... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused... I was thin, very thing... thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry..."

Sirius met Harry's eyes, neither would look away.

"Believe me," Sirius said. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

Harry nodded.

Peter fell to his knees with a "No!" Still on his knees, he shuffled toward Sirius, begging for mercy. "Sirius – it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't..."

Sirius kicked out at him before he could get there. Peter recoiled. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them."

Peter turned to Remus, "Remus! You don't believe this... wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," Remus said, then turning to Sirius. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"

"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius said.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend." Remus rolled up sleeves, "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing _you_ were the spy?"

"Of course." Sirius grinned, rolling up his sleeves as well. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so."

Peter was aghast, "You wouldn't... you won't..." He hurried away to Ron, "Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

However, Ron stared at him with revulsion. "I let you sleep in my _bed_!"

Peter crawled closer, grabbing onto his leg – his bad one at that – _ohh_ that oughtta hurt. "Kind boy... kind master... you won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," Sirius said harshly.

Ron wrenched Peter's hands off his broken leg, his face had gone pale with pain. Peter turned to Hermione, staggering forward and seizing the hem of her robes. "Sweet girl... clever girl... you – you won't let them... Help me..."

Hermione pulled away from him, and backed up to the wall – horrified.

Peter slowly turned to Harry. "Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him..."

Sirius furiously shouted out, "_How dare you speak to Harry? How dare you face him? How dare you talk about James in front of him?"_

Peter dropped his voice to a whisper, and shuffld toward Harry with his hands outstretched. "Harry. Harry, James wouldn't have wantd me killed... James would have understood, Harry... he would have shown me mercy..."

I couldn't believe how desperate this man was. Death was probably better than continuing to live under such circumstances of fear.

Remus and Lupin seized Peter's shoulders, throwing him backwards onto the floor.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort. Do you deny it?" Sirius asked shakily.

Peter burst into tears. "Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me –"

"_Don't lie! You'd been passing information to him for a year before Lily and James died! You were his spy!_"

"He – he was taking over everywhere! Wh – what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"_Then you should have died! Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!_"

Sirius and Remus stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Peter, wands raised menacingly.

"You should have realized if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter." Remus said softly.

I quickly looked to Harry, he wouldn't let this pathetic man die would he? He met my gaze, looked to Peter and quickly yelled, "_No_!" He ran ran forward and placed himself between Peter and their wands. "You can't kill him. You can't."

Sirius and Remus were surprised.

"Harry," Sirius said, "this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents. This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know. We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the dementors... He can go to Azkaban... but don't kill him."

Peter was overjoyed, flinging his arms around Harry's legs. "Harry! You – thank you – it's more than I deserve – thank you –"

"Get off me!" Harry threw Peter's arms off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because – I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers – just for you."

I looked to Ron and Hermione, who watched with bated breath.

Sirius and Remus lowered their arms.

To Harry, Sirius said, "You're the only person who has a right to decide, Harry. But think... think what he did..."

"He can go to Azkaban. If anyone deserves that place, he does..."

"And besides, if you think about it," I said, causing everyone to look at me. "Time in Azkaban is worse than death."

Harry seemed surprised that I agreed with him.

"Very well. Stand aside, Harry." Remus said.

Harry hesitated.

"I'm going to tie him up. That's all, I swear."

When Harry stepped out of the way, cords sprang out from Remus' wand much like the cords Severus had tied around him. Peter now wriggled on the floor, bound and gagged and whimpering nervously.

"But if you transform, Peter," Sirius said dangerously, pointing his wand at him, " we _will _kill you. You agree, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Right," Remus said, now turning to Ron. I could barely stand to look at his poor leg. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."

I stood and went over to Sirius to whisper, "Is his broken leg from you?"

"I was a little overexcited," he mumbled. I laughed.

"He probably forgives you."

"That's better. Thanks." Ron said to Remus, standing up without wincing – his leg in a nicely done splint.

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked softly.

"There is nothing seriously wrong with him," Remus said, bending over to check his pulse.

"He's fine," I said.

Remus nodded, "You were just a little – overenthusiastic, the four of you. Still out cold. Er – perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this..." He cast, "_Mobilicorpus_," on Severus, who was pulled into a standing position, floating a few inches above the ground.

Suddenly, from Peter's mind I heard him think, "_I can't be taken into Azkaban... I must find my master, I still have his wand... I dare not use it though, he'd be most unpleased..._"

My eyes widened and I stared at him. He noticed and looked at me with utmost bewilderment. _He has dad's wand..._

"And two of us should be chained to this," Sirius said, nudging Peter with his toe. Peter shook terribly. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," Remus said.

"And me," Ron added.

Sirius used his wand to bring Peter upright again, chaining his left arm to Lupin's right and his right arm to Ron's left.

Crookshanks led the way out and we all followed him.


	18. Chapter 18

Well, it was certainly an interesting journey. Crookshanks led the way to the opening of the Whomping Willow; Remus, Ron, and Peter were right behind him; then Severus floated behind them, still knocked out, which I really felt bad about especially with Sirius keeping his own wand pointed at him should he wake up; Harry, Hermione and myself followed at the rear behind everyone.

Harry walked beside Sirius whilst Hermione and I walked together at the very rear of the group. Hermione clutched my arm tightly, as though hoping for this to be over with.

"It's all right," I muttered, patting her arm softly.

She looked at me, "You were helping Sirius and you never told me."

I snorted, "Wouldn't _that_ be an interesting conversation starter. You'd have the whole school searching the grounds for him and me kept in a locked room for others to find out if I'm under a curse."

She smiled, trying to keep her laughter in. "Yes, I suppose that wouldn't have ended well."

"I can tell you this though. I didn't freak out about Harry's Firebolt just because 'it couldn't have possibly been from Sirius Black, he's on the run.'" I said.

"So he did send it..." she said.

I nodded, "Just don't tell Harry yet, I think Sirius wants to tell him himself."

She smiled and looked at me. "You have always been there to help us... I wish I could've known you helped get the Firebolt for Harry. It's just that you weren't at the Quidditch game where Harry fell off his broom."

"But you did tell me his broom broke and was in no way fixable. I in turn told that to Sirius when he wanted an idea for a present to give to Harry..." I said, telling her about the trip to Hogsmeade's Quality Quidditch Supplies store with Sirius.

"Does Becky know about this?" she asked.

"No idea whatsoever," I said. "None of my friends know."

"I'd have a hard time keeping that to myself," she said truthfully.

"Well, I didn't have such wonderful friends like you and Becky before I came to Hogwarts," I said softly. "I was always to myself, no trust for anybody, so even though I trust you it's easy to hide things."

"Did you know you were a wizard?"

I shook my head, "No idea."

We reached the end of the tunnel, Crookshanks darting up first to press his paw to the knot on the trunk. Single file, we made our way out and away from the Whomping Willow. We walked across the grounds on our way to the castle.

Suddenly, a cloud shifted to show a full moon. I froze and so did Sirius... I heard Remus' wand drop to the ground. Sirius flung out his arm to stop Harry and Hermione from continuing. I knew for certain that –

"He didn't take his potion..."

Hermione spun around to face me, my own was probably white. She turned back, all of us looking at Remus. He had gone rigid and his limbs began shaking.

"Oh my –" Hermione gasped in fright, shouting so Ron could hear, "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Run," Sirius whispered to us. "Run. Now."

Neither of us ran. Ron was tied to Peter, who was in turn tied to Remus. Severus still hung in midair, knocked out and oblivious.

Harry leaped forward, I guessed to help Ron, but Sirius caught him around the chest and threw him back. "Leave it to me – _run_!"

Remus started snarling... his head and body were lengthening, his shoulders hunched, hair sprouted on his face and hands which curled into sharply clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end and he slowly back away.

Sirius transformed, dropping Severus' wand to the ground next to Severus' immobile body. He bounded forward in his large, bearlike dog form. Remus – now a fully grown werewolf, wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it and Sirius seized it around the next, pulling it away from Ron and Peter.

I thought quickly – as a werewolf, a snake's bite wasn't fatal but would keep it from doing any harm to others. I transformed and, with a quick move forward by the werewolf, I bit it around where Remus' ankle would have been. I heard the whimper and moved away. The bite wouldn't start giving the werewolf painful systems for a short bit, but it would keep Sirius alive – I hoped.

Transforming back into myself, I used my magic to drop Severus to the ground a bit away from Ron so Remus as a werewolf wouldn't use him as a target when he would bound away to hide.

I heard Hermione scream in time to see Peter dive for Remus' dropped wand, I quickly took out my own. One bang – and Ron lay motionless on the ground. A second bang – Crookshanks flew into the air and fell to the ground in a fluffy heap. A third bang... and I felt myself fall backwards through the air and hit the ground with a painful _thud_.

Before I lost consciousness – though I couldn't hear a thing and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion – I saw Peter run through the grass towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry and Hermione were looking at Ron with no attention to me, so with a quick flit of my wrist I cast a spell at Peter. He disappeared... to return to his master...


	19. Chapter 19

I opened my eyes to find myself in the hospital wing. I tried to remember what happened and then did – Sirius proved himself to be innocent to Harry, Ron, and Hermione; Remus turned into a werewolf as we approached the castle; and Peter was proven guilty... and I used my magic to return him to Lord Voldemort. I had a light headache so I continued to lay there, and little by little heard a conversation start just outside of the hospital wing door. I faced the door, noticing it was a little ajar.

I was fully conscious to hear an unknown voice say, "Shocking business... shocking... miracle none of them died... never heard the like... by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape..."

"Thank you, Minister." I heard Severus say. _Minister?! As in the Minister of Magic? Holy guacamole..._

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

"As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger, Minister..." _And me_, I thought, feeling terribly like a criminal.

"_No_!"

"Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it given them a rather high opinion of themselves... and of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of liscense by the headmaster –"

"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

"And yet – is it good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like any other student. And any other student would be suspended – at the very least – for leading his friends into such danger. Consider, Minister – against all school rules – after all the precautions put in place for his protection – out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer – and I have reason to believe he has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too –"

"Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see... The boy has undoubtedly been foolish... What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

_Dementors?! What happened when I was knocked out? Did dementors come? Was Sirius all right? Was the Dementor's Kiss performed? Something must have happened... the Minister did say he was going to give Severus an Order of Merlin, Second Class, maybe even First Class. So Sirius was either caught or the Dementor's Kiss was performed... the dementors retreated for some reason, so maybe something happened so they retreated before they could perform it! I do hope that happened... ugh oh my head._

"No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girl –"

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

I turned around to face the other way, Hermione was in the bed next to me and Harry was in the bed to her left. I looked to where they looked – both awake – and saw Madam Pomfrey coming over from where Ron lay at the end of the ward.

"Ah, you're awake!" Madam Pomfrey said briskly, placing chocolate next to Harry and Hermione.

"How's Ron?" Harry and Hermione said together.

"He'll live. As for you three... you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're – Potter, what do you think you're doing?"

Harry sat up, putting his glasses on and picking up his wand. "I need to see the headmaster."

"Potter, it's all right," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly, as though this was a crazy ward and she was being sweet so he wouldn't go nuts and trash the place. "They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now –"

"_What_?"

Harry and Hermione jumped up out of bed, I sat up quickly to do the same but my hand reflexively jumped up to my head as it started spinning uncontrollably. So much so that I almost passed out.

"Oh, deary, you have a concussion," Madam Pomfrey said with disapproval, pushing me back down.

"Oh my God," I mumbled.

Then I noticed the Minister and Severus enter the hospital wing. I had never seen the Minister of Magic in person before, so it was quite something though I was in the hospital wing with a concussion. He was a portly man with gray hair.

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, looked agitated as he said, "Harry, Harry, what's this? You should be in bed – has he had any chocolate?"

"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's –"

The Minister just shook his head with a small smile on his face, as though Harry was crazy. It started to make me angry. Was it really all that hard to _listen_? "Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."

"_You haven't! You've got the wrong man!_"

Hermione tried herself, "Minister, listen, please. I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and –"

"You see, Minister? Confunded, both of them... Black's done a very good job on them... Miss Riddle are you all right?" Severus asked me, looking truly worried.

"Fine," I looked down at my hands, the light headache returning from the heavy dizziness, "But I really must say –"

"_We're not confunded_!" Harry yelled frustratedly, which was exactly what I was going to say except that it wasn't me they were saying was confunded. My head pounded dangerously, but I didn't want to tell anyone to quiet down just for my sake.

"Exactly what I was going to say," I said softly.

"Minister! Professor!" Madam Pomfrey said angrily. Hah, she didn't know how angry we were at that moment. "I must insist that you leave. Potter is my patient, and he should not be distressed!"

Harry said, "I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what happened! If they'd just listen –"

Suddenly, however, Madam Pomfrey stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth. He choked with surprise, and she pushed him back onto the bed.

"Now, _please_, Minister, these children need care. Please leave –"

The door open and Professor Dumbledore walked in. Harry jumped up again.

"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black –"

"For heaven's sake! Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist –" Madam Pomfrey started to say.

"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Riddle," Professor Dumbeldore said calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black –"

"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in Potter's mind? Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive –" Severus said.

"That, indeed, is Black's story."

"And does my evidence count for nothing? Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds."

Hermione said, "That was because you were knocked out, Professor! You didn't arrive in time to hear –"

"Miss Granger, _hold your ton_ –"

"Professor!" I shouted to everyone's surprise, my head spinning dangerously. "Would you just _listen_?! I saw –"

"Now, Snape," Fudge said, fairly startled, "the young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances –"

"I would like to speak to Harry, Hermione, and Melody alone," Dumbeldore said abruptly. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy – please leave us."

Madam Pomfrey wouldn't stand for it, "Headmaster! They need treatment, they need rest –"

"This cannot wait. I must insist."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away to her office, slamming the door behind her, causing my headache to ring dangerously again.

The Minister looked at the large gold pocket watch hanging from his waistcoat. "The dementors should have arrived by now. I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs." He went to the door and held it open for Severus, who didn't budge.

"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" Severus whispered questioningly.

"I wish to speak to Harry, Hermione, and Melody alone," Professor Dumbeldore repeated patiently.

Severus took a step toward him. "Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen. You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill _me_?" What a desperate measure that was – a schoolboy grudge – all Sirius had done was tell him the way in. Severus could have killed himself by his own curiosity.

"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus."

Severus turned on his heel – giving me one last glance as though to be sure I was all right – and marched through the door the Minister still held open for him. The moment the door closed behind them, Professor Dumbeldore turned to us and Harry and Hermione burst into explanations at the same time.

"Professor, Black's telling the truth – we _saw_ Pettigrew –"

"– he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf –"

"– he's a rat –"

"– Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off –"

"– Pettigrew attacked Ron and Melody, it wasn't Sirius –"

Professor Dumbeldore held his hand up to silence them. He said quietly, so only we could hear, "It is your time to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time. There is not a shred of evidence to support Black's story, except your word – and the word of four thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper."

"Professor Lupin can tell you –" Harry started.

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little – and the fact that he and Sirius are old friends –"

"But –"

"_Listen to me, Harry_. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."

Desperately, Hermione said, "He hates Sirius. All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him –"

"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady – entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife –"

"He had _every chance_ to kill Harry tonight -" I began, but Professor Dumbledore shook his head.

"– without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no choice of overturning Sirius's sentence."

"_But you do believe us_," we all said.

"Yes, I do. But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic...

"What we need," Professor Dumbledore said slowly, his eyes moving to Hermione, "is more _time_."

"But –" Hermione began. Then her eyes widened with a sort of realization, "_Oh_!"

Professor Dumbledore lowered his voice further so we had to lean in, and I did so slowly so I wouldn't have another dizzy spell. "Now pay attention. Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, all three of you: _you must not be seen_. Miss Granger, you know the law – you know what is at stake... _You – must – not – be – seen_."

Harry and I looked at each other in confusion. What in the world was he talking about?

Professor Dumbledore turned and looked back as he reached the door. "I am going to lock you in. It is –" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"Good luck?" Harry repeated in confusion as Professor Dumbledore closed the door behind him. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"

Hermione didn't answer, however, as she fumbled with the neck of her robes to pull out a long, fine gold chain. "Both of you, come here _quick_!" she said urgently.

I got up as quickly as I could, Hermione holding the chain out to both of us. Hanging from it, I noticed there was a tiny, sparkling hourglass... that's when I realized it to be a T_ime-Turner_!

"Here –" she said, throwing the chain around both our necks. "Ready?" she asked.

I nodded excitedly. Harry, however, was still lost. "What are we doing?"

Hermione turned the small hourglass over three times.

I felt the sensation that we were flying backwards very fast as the dark ward dissolved. Blurs of colors and shapes passed us quickly that I guessed to be people and my head pounded dangerously. Going back in time was not safe for the health of my concussion, but I was actually glad to do it. A Time-Turner! I should've realized that that was what she was using to get to all her classes. _That_ was how she was able to be in two places at once.

Everything came into focus again and we now stood in the deserted entrance hall. A stream of golden sunlight fell across the paved floor from the open doors. We'd just gone back in time! I looked away from the light, the pounding in my head increasing as I looked at it.

"Hermione, what –?" Harry started to ask.

"In here!" Hermione seized our arms, dragging Harry and pulling me across the hallways to the door of a broom closet. She opened it, pushed us inside amonst the buckets and mops, then quickly closed the door behind us.

"What – how – Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked.

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off our necks in the blessed darkness. "Three hours back..."

"Amazing...!" I said in awe.

"But –" Harry began.

"Shh! Someone's coming! I think – I think it might be us!" Hermione said, pressing her ear against the cupboard door. "Footsteps across the hall... I can hear someone talking to us... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me, that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?"

"Yes," Hermione said, still keeping her ear pressed to the door. "I'm sure it's us. I can hear one person walking away and it doesn't sound like more than three people going out the front doors... and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak –"

She broke off, still listening. Harry and I waited with bated breath.

"We've gone down the front steps..." Hermione said, sitting down on an upturned bucket and looking desperately anxious.

"Where did you g_et_ that hourglass thing?"

"It's called a Time-Turner, and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But...

"_I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do_. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," Harry said slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago..."

"This _is _three hours ago, and we _are_ walking to down to Hagrid's. We just heard ourselves leaving..." Hermione said.

"Just now, you three had told me that they were going to execute Buckbeak," I remembered.

"Dumbledore just said – just said we could save more than one innocent life..." Harry said, then realizing something. "We're going to save Buckbeak!"

"But – how will that help Sirius?" Hermione asked.

"Dumbledore said – he just told us where the window is – the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak – they can escape together!"

Hermione looked terrified, but Harry and I beamed at each other and at her.

"If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!" she said.

"Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" Harry said, standing up and pressing his ear against the door. "Doesn't sound like anyone's there... Come on, let's go..."

He pushed the closet door open and looked around, then beckoned for us to follow him. We quickly, but quietly, came out and went through through the front doors down the stone steps. I shielded my eyes with my hands, the sunlight proving to be too much, but even that didn't help very much and my head pounded harshly against my skull.

Hermione looked up at the castle behind us and squeaked, "If anyone's looking out of the window –"

"We'll run for it," Harry said. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout –"

"Okay, but we'll go around the greenhouses! We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

I ran behind Harry and Hermione across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, pausing for a moment behind them and then setting off as fast as we could around the Whomping Willow into the shelter of the Forbidden Forest.

Leaning against a tree, I fought to catch my breath and for my head to quit spinning. I never knew how much more difficult it was to try doing things with a concussion. _Why couldn't Madam Pomfrey have given me something before I woke up?_

"Right," Hermione gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's... Keep out of sight..."

We silently moved through the trees at the edge of the forest. We glimpsed the front of Professor Hagrid's house and heard a knock on his door. We slipped in behind a wide oak trunk, Harry peering out one side while Hermione and I looked around the other. Professor Hagrid appeared in his doorway, his face was white and he was shaking terribly, to see who had knocked. I heard Harry's voice say to him:

"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Professor Hagrid whispered to thin air, standing back – probably to let them in – and shutting the door quickly.

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said.

"At least it's something that will save some lives," I replied.

Hermione whispered, "Let's move along a bit. We need to get nearer to Buckbeak."

We crept through the trees until we saw Buckbeak, tethered to the fence surrounding Professor Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Now?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"No!" Hermione said quickly. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"

"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," Harry said, seemingly losing hope.

At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside the cabin. Something dropped?

"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered, confirming my thought. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment –" That confirming a question I'd had about how they found him again.

A minutes later we heard Hermione's shriek of surprise.

"Hermione," Harry whispered suddenly, "what if we – we just run in there and grab Pettigrew –"

Hermione, in a terrified whisper, said, "No! Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen –"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

They were whispering, but my head pounded the more they went at each other. It seemed loud to me, but since I supposed not to them I just let it go... _why_ a _concussion_? _Ooh, Peter, I __**will**__ get you for this!_

"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" Hermione asked.

"I'd – I'd think I'd gone mad, or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on –"

"_Exactly_! You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time... Loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"

"Okay! It was just an idea, I just thought –"

Before he could finish I nudged Hermione, who in turn nudged Harry as I pointed toward the castle. Professor Dumbledore, the Minister of Magic, an old man, and what I guessed to be the executioner – as he held an axe – were coming down the front steps.

"We're about to come out!" Hermione said.

Moments later, Professor Hagrid's back door opened and Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of it with the Professor.

"It's okay, Beaky, it's okay...," Professor Hagrid said to Buckbeak. He turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione, "Go on. Get goin'."

"Hagrid, we can't –"

"We'll tell them what really happened –"

"They can't kill him –"

"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"

Hermione threw the Invisibility Cloak over herself, Harry, and Ron.

"Go quick. Don' listen..."

There was a knock on his front door. They had arrived. He turned around and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door ajar.

"Where's the beast?" the executioner asked, his cold voice splitting into my head like a knife.

"Out – outside," Professor Hagrid said. I couldn't help my sigh, I felt so bad for him – for Buckbeak.

The executioner looked out of his window, looking at Buckbeak. Then the Minister spoke.

"We – er – have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, you're supposed to listen too, that's procedure –"

Macnair – the executioner – left the window.

"Wait here," Harry whispered to us. "I'll do it."

Hermione and I nodded to each other, she watched Harry and I watched the window, listening in on what he was saying.

"_It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall be executed on the sixth of June at sundown... sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair... as witnessed below._ Hagrid, you sign here..."

Another voice, the old man's probably, said, "Well, let's get this over with. Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside –"

"No, I – I wan' ter be with him... I don' wan' him ter be alone –"

"Hurry up!" I whispered hurriedly to Harry as I heard footsteps inside the cabin.

"_Buckbeak, move_!" Harry hissed.

"One moment, please, Macnair," I heard Professor Dumbledore say. "You need to sign too." Thank heavens Macnair became a little lazy at that moment.

"Harry, hurry!" Hermione mouthed.

Harry gave Buckbeak another wrench, and Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They reached the trees.

"Quick! Quick!" Hermioen moaned. We darted out from behind the tree and grabbed onto the rope, adding our weight so that Buckbeak would move faster.

"Stop!" Harry whispered. "They might hear us –"

I turned back to where Professor Hagrid's cabin was, and we were blocked from view. His cabin door opened with a bang and we all stood quite still, even Buckbeak. There was absolute silence, and then –

"Where is it? Where is the beast?" the reedy voice of the old man.

"It was tied here!" Macnair said furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

"How extraordinary," Professor Dumbledore said. I could just hear his amusement.

"Beaky!" we heard Professor Hagrid say.

A swishing noise sounded, and then the thud of an axe. I suppose that Walden Macnair swing it at the fence in anger. Then we heard Professor Hagrid howling and sobbing.

"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's _gone_! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"

Buckbeak then started straining against the rope to get back to Hagrid. As Harry and Hermione tightened their grip on the rope and dug their heels into the forest floor, I hurried in front of him and pushed on his chest.

"Someone untied him!" Macnair snarled. "We should search the grounds, the forest –"

Professor Dumbledore – still amused – said, "Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot? Search the skies, if you will... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."

Professor Hagrid – weak with happiness – said, "O' – o' course, Professor. Come in, come in..."

Footsteps... Macnair's soft cursing... the snap of the door and then silence.

Buckbeak had stopped straining, and I looked up at him. A beautiful creature we'd just saved... I pet his beak while Harry and Hermione figured out our next move.

"Now what?" Harry asked, looking around.

"We'll have to hide in here. We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours... Oh, this is going to be difficult..." Hermione looked nervously over her shoulder into the forest. The sun was now setting, _thank God!_

I walked over next to them, grabbing hold of the rope. I had no idea what had happened before Professor Snape and myself came onto the scene, so I had no plan of action.

"We're going to have to move," Harry said. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."

"Okay. But we've got to keep out of sight, Harry, remember..."

We moved around the edge of the forest, the sun setting further out of the sky, until we were hidden behind a clump of trees looking out at the Whomping Willow. We were perfectly hidden from view.

"There's Ron!" Harry said suddenly.

There was no way I could've told that. I saw the dark figure sprint across the lawn, its shout echoing through the air. A ginger cat was following – Crookshanks. _What had Peter done to him last night...? Or... at least what will he to do him in a couple hours?_

"Get away from him – get away – Scabbers, come _here –_"

Two more figures materialized out of nowhere – Harry and Hermione – chasing after Ron. Ron dived.

"_Gotcha!_ Get off, you stinking cat –"

"There's Sirius!" Harry said. I saw the large black dog run out from the roots of the Willow. He bowled Harry over and then seized Ron.

"Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" Harry asked as Sirius pulled Ron into the roots. I could hear a sharp crack in the air as Ron's legs disappeared in... so _that_ was how his leg became broken. Harry and Hermione ran to go save him, but then – "Ouch – look, I just got walloped by the tree – and so did you – this is _weird –_"

They then darted here and there to try getting into the trunk, and then the tree froze suddenly.

"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," Hermione said.

"And there we go... We're in," Harry muttered,

The moment they disappeared into the trunk, the tree began moving again. Some seconds later, Professor Dumbledore, Macnair, the Minister, and the old man were making their way up to the castle.

"Right after we'd gone down into the passage! If _only_ Dumbledore had come with us..." Hermione said.

Harry was bitter. "Macnair and Fudge would've come too. I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot..."

We watched as they climbed the castle steps and disappeared from view.

Fear suddenly overtook me. When Severus and I come, Harry and Hermione will see me talking to dad – to Nagini – and realize I talk to snakes _and_ wonder why that particular snake went up to me. Well... I already knew they both knew I was the daughter of Lord Voldemort, they just thought that I had no idea of it.

"Here comes Lupin!" Harry said.

Another figure sprinted down the stone steps and over to the Whomping Willow. Remus seized a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting and he, too, disappeared into it.

"If he'd only grabbed the cloak. It's just lying there..." Harry said, then suddenly turning to Hermione. "If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and –"

"Harry, _we mustn't be seen!_"

"How can you stand this?" he asked furiously. "Just standing here and watching it happen? I'm going to grab the cloak!"

"Harry, _no!"_ Hermione said, seizing the back of his robes.

_Just_ then we heard a burst of song. Professor Hagrid was making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his lungs and not quite steady on his feet – he was drunk.

"_See?_" she whispered. _"See what would have happened?_ We've got to keep out of sight! _No, Buckbeak_!"

We each seized the rope to hold Buckbeak back. Hagrid went up to the caslte and disappeared inside. Buckbeak's head drooped sadly.

"Professor Snape and I will come soon," I said softly. "We've probably just now seen that Professor Lupin is not in his office."

Barely two minutes later, the castle door flew open and Professor Snape and myself charged out.

"This_ is_ weird..." I said, watching myself. Then Professor Snape and I were hidden from view, we tried looking around it but there was no seeing us. "He's telling me about Sirius's prank on him when they were sixteen..." I remembered.

"He was saving his own neck from getting expelled!" we heard Severus shout, strutting into our view so we could see him. "Don't you _dare_ follow me in, or I will disarm you and put a body-bind on you until I get back. It's for your own safety, Melody."

"Ugh, _Severus_!" I shouted.

"_What?_" he asked, stopping to turn and face me.

I was silent a moment, and then said, "Good luck!"

He stared at me, nodded and then quickly set off again. He stopped and picked up Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Get your filthy hands off it," I heard Harry snarl.

"Shh!" Hermione whispered.

Placing it over himself, he continued forward unseeable... and I could see how helpful that was as the Willow didn't know he was there and so didn't attack him.

About a minute later, I could see the break in the air where my invisible self was. "I've donned the Disillusionment Charm on myself... I'm going in."

"So that's it," Hermione said quietly. "We're all down there... and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."

She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it around the nearest tree, and then sat down on the dry ground, wrapping her arms around her knees.

I sat down next to her, feeling tense.

"Harry, there's something I don't understand... Why didn't the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out... there were so many of them..."

Harry sat down too and explained to us what he'd see. The nearest dementor had lowered its mouth to his, but a large silver something came galloping across the lake – forcing the dementors to retreat.

Hermione's mouth was open, but I knew what it was. A Patronus. But who conjured it?

"But what was it?" Hermione asked.

"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the dementors go. A real Patronus. A powerful one." Harry said.

"But who conjured it?"

Harry was silent.

"Didn't you see what they looked like?" Hermione asked eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"

"No. He wasn't a teacher."

"But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those dementors away... If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see –?"

"Yeah, I saw him. But... maybe I imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."

"_Who did you think it was?_"

"I think – I think it was my dad."

Hermione's mouth was fully open now, I just regarded his face. If it truly was his dad... no... oh! I had a feeling that when time was fixed, what we were doing right now had been done thousands of times already – therefore helping the idea of deja vu! Harry must've conjured the Patronus! A person wouldn't believe how proud I suddenly felt at that moment, his extra lessons with Professor Lupin on the Patronus paid off. He saved his life... best leave that for Harry to realize.

"Harry, you dad's – well – _dead_."

"I know that."

"You think you saw his ghost?"

"I don't know... no... he looked solid..."

"But then –"

"Maybe I was seeing things. But... from what I could see... it looked like him... I've got photos of him..."

Hermione looked at him as though worried for his sanity.

"I know it sounds crazy," Harry said, looking to Buckbeaks who was digging his beak into the ground.

Hermione turned to me as Harry was lost in thought. "What were you doing with Snape?"

"I went to see if I could get my grades for my exams and to talk about future years for myself... and then we went up to see Professor Trelawney so he could get final exam grades from her to turn in to Professor Dumbledore." I said.

"You went with him?" she asked in surprise.

I nodded, "She's a very odd woman, I wonder if her predictions are true or are jut guesswork becuase she made a pretty ridiculous one about me before talking to Professor Snape."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "And what was that?"

"I will get my Inner Eye in approximately one month was, I believe, how she put it..." I said, recalling the events of what happened to the best of my ability. "Then after talking to Professor Snape, he left the room while she talked to me in private. Said that though she doesn't see me in her classes in the future, she sees me going to her for help with problems on my Inner Eye."

She scoffed. "How predictable," she muttered.

"And then – Harry I think you'd be interested in this..." I said softly, Harry turning his attention to me. "I think she said a real prediction... about tonight... she sort of went rigid and said in a harsh voice that –"

"– the Dark Lord's servant will return to him tonight before midnight," Harry finished with me.

"Did she tell you the same thing?" I asked.

He nodded, "I suppose it was a real prediction. She just said that the servant of Lord Voldemort will return to him tonight."

"Nothing more?" I asked.

He shook his head. _Good, then she said nothing about the Dark Lord's daughter helping. Maybe I was just added because she suddenly met me in person_.

"A _real_ prediction?" Hermione asked in shock. "I don't believe it!"

I shrugged my shoulders, "She's not aware of her real predictions it seems. When she snapped out of it, she believed she dozed off and told me the same thing happened during one of her exams today. I asked her if that exam happened to be with you – a lucky guess I might add – and when she said yes, she believed that my 'Inner Eye is already starting to bloom'."

Harry and Hermione laughed.

Hermione gave a gasp, "Oh, Melody, I forgot... your concussion –"

I held my hand up, "I'll be okay, I'm still alive aren't I? It's better now that we're being quiet and it's dark."

"Don't be so humble, you need some rest!" Hermione said.

I shook my head slowly.

"It would be better for you –" Harry began.

"And if I do, you'd need to wake me up slowly... we don't know when we'll come out of the Willow and there's not a lot of time between then and when Professor Lupin transforms... I –"

"I have to admit," Harry said. "Ron and I... we were wrong about you... we just thought –"

"– that because I'm a Slytherin I can't be trusted," I finished, looking up at his face. "I am not like them... I grew up in the muggle world and now live with a family of Ravenclaws. Ron can tell you, I sold him his new wand."

"Really? But he seemed so _proud_ of his new wand!" Hermione said.

We laughed.

"Well, he's probably happy with it now but when I was fitting him with his wand he looked as if he'd rather be force fed poison –"

We burst into more laughter.

Then we were silent for some time, listening to the sounds of the forest.

"Snape really cares for you..." Hermione said.

I shrugged, "I suppose..." _What would he think if he knew I'd been helping Sirius and was a part in knocking him out when he wouldn't listen, though? He has no clue about what happened when he left me... has no idea that I followed in and didn't stay where I was._

"He doesn't have to know," Harry said. "We could just say that when we came out, you were still standing there and just got in the way."

I snorted, "Then next time something like this happens, he'll tell me to stay inside the castle."

"And you did tell him to listen when we talked about Pettigrew being there... that says that you _did_ see him _and were there when it all happened._"

"I really should tell him the truth though –"

"Melody, you _can't_!" Hermione said. "You've been in that tutor program for years, and you _know_ he would take you out of it the moment he knew –"

"Then that's the price I'll pay..." I said. Guilt takes over very easily.

About an hour later, Hermione whispered, "Here we come!"

We stood up and Buckbeak raised his head.

Remus, Ron, and Peter came out of the hole in the roots rather awkwardly, then Hermione and myself, our unconscious Severus, then Harry and Sirius. We began walking toward the castle.

"Harry," Hermione muttered to Harry, as he was probably thinking about jumping in, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..."

"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." Harry said.

"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" she snapped. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius; we're not supposed to be doing anything else."

"_All right!_"

"There's the moon," I said, shielding my eyes. It seemed unnaturally bright... could it possibly feel that way to Remus now?

"There goes Lupin. He's transforming –" Hermione said.

Harry suddenly said, "We've got to move!"

"We mustn't, I keep telling you –"

"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"

She gasped, and I felt both my head and heart pounding. "Quick!" she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The dementors will be coming any moment –"

"Back to Hagrid's! It's empty now – come on!"

We ran quickly with Buckbeak behind us at a trot... we could hear Remus's howling from behind us...

The cabin came into sight and Harry wrenched the door opened, we ran in past him and he threw himself in, closing the door and bolting it. Professor Hagrid's boarhound barked loudly and I sat down quickly to stop my head from spinning at the sudden loudness.

"Shh, Fang, it's us!" Hermione said, hurrying over to him and scratching his ears. He was quiet soon enough. "That was really close!"

"Yeah..." Harry said, looking out of the window. "I think I'd better go outside again, you know. I can't see what's going on – we won't know when it's time –"

Hermione looked up at him suspiciously.

"I'm not going to try and interfere," he said quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we supposed to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"

"Well... okay, then... we'll wait here with Buckbeak... but Harry, be careful – there's a werewolf out there – and the dementors –"

Harry stepped outside before she could finish.

"Even if he wanted to interfere, there's nothing he can interfere with..." I said softly, thinking he was probably going to see if he could find out who the person was that saved them.

Hermione shook her head with a sigh.

Some moments later, we could hear his shout and Hermione quickly got up. She looked furious, yet terrified. We sped out of Hagrid's cabin, Buckbeak behind us, as fast as we could, though Buckbeak was slow in getting out – having been so used to the cabin as his home.

We found Harry by the lake, across from where I could see himself, Hermione and Sirius laying there. So this was where the dementors attacked them.

"_What did you do_?" Hermione asked him. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"

"I just saved all our lives...," he said. "Get behind here – behind this bush – I'll explain." The explanation was that he got there and when his dad didn't come, he suddenly realized that he had done it and so moved to make it happen. I smiled.

"Did anyone see you?" Hermione asked, her mouth hanging open.

"Yes, haven't you been listening? _I_ saw me but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"

"Harry, I can't believe it... You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, _very_ advanced magic..."

"I knew I could do it this time, because I'd already done it... Does that make sense?"

I nodded, but Hermione said, "I don't know – hey, look at Snape!"

We peered around the bush to where Professor Snape had just come over and was conjuring stretchers – lifting they're bodies onto them. A fourth stretcher was nearby, possibly with Ron on it, and the fifth one he kept closest to his side was probably me – he kept glancing over at that one. Then, with his wand out, he moved us up toward the castle.

"Right, it's nearly time," Hermione said tensely, checking her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."

We waited, watching the castle almost without blinking and checking our watches every once in a while.

"D' you reckon he's up there yet?" Harry asked at one point, checking his watch and looking back up at the castle again.

"Look!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pointing over to the entrance. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"

"Macnair! The executioner!" Harry said. "He's gone to get the dementors! This is it –"

Hermione and I got on first, Harry giving us a leg up. Then he got on, using one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed in front. He used Buckbeak's rope, pulling it back over his neck and tying it to the other side of his collar like reins.

"Ready?" he whispered to us. "You'd better hold on –"

He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Hermione held on to Harry and I held on to Hermione. Hopefully Buckbeak could hold all of us.

Buckbeak soared right into the sky, and Harry steered him in the direction of the West Towers. I left everything to them to figure out while I held on to Hermione who was muttering to herself in fear. Not a fan of flying, I suppose.

"Whoa!" I heard Harry say, and Buckbeak slowed down, still hovering in midair. "He's there!" I heard him tap on the glass of a window and looked at it to see where Sirius was.

Sirius looked up, and his jaw dropped. He quickly got up from his chair to the window to try to open it, however, it was locked.

"Stand back!" Hermione called out, and took out her wand. "_Alohomora!_"

The window sprang open.

Sirius looked weak with joy, "How – how –?"

"Get on – there's not much time," Harry said. "You've got to get out of here – the dementors are coming – Macnair's gone to get them."

Sirius placed his hands on either side of the window frame and heaved himself out of it. He was easily able to fling one leg over Buckbeak's back and pull himself up behind me, quickly wrapping his arms around waist to keep from falling.

"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" Harry said. "Up to the tower – come on!"

I could feel Sirius shaking, almost bursting into some very happy tears.

We soared upward again, just above the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed on the battlements with a clatter. Harry, Hermione, and myself quickly slid off of him, leaving Sirius to pull himself forward to grab the rope.

"Sirius, you'd better go, quick," Harry said, panting. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're gone."

"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" he asked.

"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick – go –"

Sirius still stared down at us with great gratitude. "How can I ever thank –"

"_Go_!" we shouted.

"We'll see each other again. You are – truly your father's son, Harry..."

Squeezing Buckbeak's sides with his heels, we jumped back as Buckbeak took flight again. And we watched as they grew smaller and smaller into the distance, until there was nothing left of them. They had gone away into hiding – into safety.


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione consulted her watch, "We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us – before Dumbledore locks the door –"

"Okay," Harry and I said, "let's go..."

We went through the doorway behind us and down a tight spiraling stone staircase. As we reached the bottom, we heard voices and flattened ourselves against the wall to listen. It was the Minister and Severus. They were walking quickly along the corridor at the foot of the staircase.

"... only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Severus was saying. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors. This whole Black affair has been highly embarassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the _Daily Prophet_ that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... and once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the _Prophet_ exactly how you saved him..."

I could see Severus's smirk as he and the Minister passed our hiding place. Their footsteps soon died away, we made sure they had really gone and then started running in the opposite direction. Down one staircase, and then another, along a corridor – then we heard Peeves. _Gosh, it's been a while since I saw __**him**__. He's __**really good**__ at avoiding me._

"_Peeves!_" Harry muttered, grabbing our wrists. "In here!"

We sped into a deserted classroom to our left just in time – Peeves bouncing along the corridor in happy spirits, laughing his head off as always.

"Oh, he's horrible," Hermione whispered, keeping her ear pressed against the door. "I bet he's all excited because the dementors are going to finish off Sirius..." She checked her watch. "Three minutes!"

We waited until we could no longer hear Peeves, and then hurried out and broke into a run once more.

"Hermione –" Harry said, "– what'll happen – if we don't get back inside – before Dumbledore locks the door?"

"I don't want to think about it!" Hermione said, checking her watch again. "One minute!"

We reached the end of the corridor with the entrance to the hospital wing. "Okay – I can hear Dumbledore," Hermione said. "Come on, almost there!" I think that 'almost there' was for my sake, I almost felt like passing out, we'd been running so much.

Creeping along the corridor, the hospital door opened and Professor Dumbledore's back appeared to us.

"I'm going to lock you in," we heard him saying. "It is five minutes to midight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

He backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. In a panic, we ran forward. Professor Dumbledore looked up and smiled widely. "Well?" he asked quietly.

"We did it!" Harry said breathlessly. _Pff, I can't even get __**one word**__ out!_ I thought. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak..."

Professor Dumbledore beamed at us. "Well done. I think –" he listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too – get inside – I'll lock you in –"

We slipped back inside the dormitory – empty except for Ron, still lying motionless in the end bed. The lock clicked behind us and we crept back into our own beds, Hermione tucking the Time-Turner back under her robes. I welcomed the comfort of the bed with a blissful sigh. Just a moment later, Madam Pomfrey came striding out of her office with a bottle in her hand.

"Did I hear the headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients now?" she asked irritably.

Harry and Hermione ate their chocolate quietly, she gave them one after another once they finished it. Then she looked to my head, tsking to herself. "You're very lucky dear – any harder of a hit to your head and your skull would've split."

My eyes went wide. "Yowza," I said quietly.

"Indeed," she said, giving me a small smile. Then she took the bottle, got a paper cup off of the side table and poured some of the liquid into the cup – giving Harry and Hermione a third piece of chocolate. "Drink this. Once you fall asleep it'll fix up whatever damage was done to your head. You'll be good as new by tomorrow when you wake up."

"Thanks," I said, taking the cup from her and drinking it. It was like water, tastless.

"I will give you some Sleeping Draught in a moment. It needs some time to get through your system."

After giving Harry and Hermione their fourth piece of chocolate, we heard a distant roar of fury. Again... Severus is _loud_.

"What was that?" Madam Pomfrey asked in alarm.

Now there were angry voices, growing louder and louder each second. Madam Pomfrey stared at the door.

"Really – they'll wake everybody up! What do they think they're doing?"

The voices drew nearer. Well... there was about to be an explosion in the hospital wing.

"He must have Disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out –"

"_He didn't disapparate_!" Severus roared, now _very_ close. "_You can't Apparate __**or**__ Disapparate inside this castle! This – has – something – to – do – with – Potter!_"

"Severus – be reasonable – Harry has been locked up –"

_Bam_! The door of the hospital wing burst open to reveal a furious – no, _more than furious_ – Severus, an angry Minister, and a calm Professor Dumbledore – seemingly enjoying himself.

"_Out with it, Potter! What did you do?_" Severus bellowed.

"Professor Snape! Control yourself!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked.

"See here, Snape, be reasonable," the Minister tried to pacify him. "This door's been locked, we just saw –"

"_They helped him escape, I know it!_" Severus howled, pointing to Harry and Hermione.

I saw Professor Dumbledore look at me meaningfully. It looked like Harry and Hermione were about to win their side of the argument from earlier... Severus would never know I was a part of the whole thing. I had to say they'd been with me the entire time.

"Calm down, man!" the Minister barked. "You're talking nonsense!" _**Now** who is getting angry?_

"_You don't know Potter!_" Severus shrieked. _"He did it, I know he did it –"_

"That will do, Severus," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"

"Of course not! I would have heard them!" Madam Pomfrey said.

"Melody, have either Harry or Hermione left the hospital wing?"

"No," I said softly. "They were here the entire time."

"Well, there you have it, Severus," Professor Dumbledore said calmly. "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

Severus was seething, staring from the Minister, who was obviously thoroughly shocked by his behavior, to Professor Dumbledore, whose eyes – as always – were twinkling behind his glasses. Severus whirled about, his robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the hospital wing in a rather childish tantrum.

"Fellow seems quite unbalanced," the Minister said, staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore."

Professor Dumbledore said, "Oh, he's not unbalanced. He's just suffered a severe disappointment."

The Minister puffed up angrily, "He's not the only one! The _Daily Prophet_'s going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughingstock! Well... I'd better go and notify the Ministry..."

"And the dementors? They'll be removed from the school, I trust?"

"Oh yes, they'll have to go." The Minister ran his hands through his hair distractedly. "Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy..." Okay, now this I hadn't completely known, and if they said if before it probably didn't register in my mind. The dementors tried to perform the Kiss on Harry? That was dad's work, if I ever knew it. "Completely out of control... no, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight... Perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance..."

"Hagrid would like that," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling at us.

As Professor Dumbledore and the Minister left the dormitory, Madam Pomgrey hurried to the door and locked it again. She muttered to herself angrily as she poured some Sleeping Draught for me, and disappeared into her office.

I picked up the Sleeping Draught to hear a low moan from the other end of the ward. Ron woke up... sitting up, he rubbed his head and looked around. Well, _he_ sure missed a large fiasco.

"What – what happened? Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and I drank the Sleeping Draught down to the last drop.

"You explain," I heard Harry say as I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up, sunlight entering the room. Oh, how good it felt that I no longer had an almost fatal concussion. Looking around, I was surprised to find that I wasn't alone.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to have already left but Severus was in a chair next to me.

He was beside himself, possibly still angry.

"Are you all right?" I asked, sitting up.

He shook his head. "Black has gone, Dumbledore convinced the Minister that Lupin was trying to save you all, and I am not getting the Order of Merlin... I told Slytherin House this morning about Lupin being a werewolf."

I was shocked, "You _didn't_!"

"He already resigned because of what happened last night," he said softly. "He's packing now."

_Mental note: Go see Remus before he leaves_, I thought.

"How are you?" Severus asked suddenly. "I – When I regained consciousness last night and saw you laying there, I feared the worst."

I smiled. _Severus was worried about me_. "I've got a hard head... apparently, any harder of a hit to the ground and my head would have split open."

He sighed, "Black's ruthless... Potter shouldn't have –"

"Sirius Black didn't, he transformed into a black dog and protected us from Remus when he turned into a werewolf... it _was_ Peter Pettigrew, Severus, I saw him with my own eyes."

Severus scowled, "He must have confunded you –"

"Hey!" I said sharply... sharper than I meant to. "My head is stronger than anyone else's. Here – try to confund me now."

"You've just recovered –"

"_Now_!" I said.

He took out his wand, and waved it at me – doing it nonverbally. I felt him penetrate my head and try to put new information in it – a new belief of some sort, but I easily pushed him out. I did it so hard he fell out of his chair.

I laughed at him, openly.

He muttered to himself as he got back into his chair and said, "But you were ready for that –"

"I don't recall being ready for it when I was ten and you tried getting into my mind to see what I was thinking," I retorted. He didn't have a response for that. "Try listening, Severus – it might get you somewhere instead of just turning your head the other way because of some _petty schoolboy grudge_."

I can honestly say – that was probably the bravest I have ever been when talking to Professor Snape. I guess I just felt... I felt like nothing could hurt me. That I was invincible... then it made me worry because what if dad felt like this at some point, too?

Severus was speechless.

Luckily for me, at that moment in burst my Slytherin friends. Severus stood up and left while they swarmed around me.

"Oh my gosh, are you all right?" Becky asked, sitting down on the bed and hugging me tightly.

I laughed as Marcus went on the other side and did the same thing... then Draco, Vincent and Greg all piled along the middle.

"Can I breathe?" I asked.

They piled off of me and I just couldn't help my smile. "I was in the hospital wing last year, what's so different about this year?"

"Well, last year we were told there were no injuries on you – all that happened was that you were taken over by an evil entity," Becky said, so very matter-of-fact about it.

"But from what we've heard," Marcus continued, "you got a concussion and were _so close_ to Lupin when he became a werewolf, and to Sirius Black!"

I snorted, "Yeah.. I could have been killed in about _two_ different ways last night. But, I'm alive – so no difference." I stood up thinking, _actually about **three** different ways, but they aren't to know about Peter._ Madam Pomfrey briskly hurried out of her office toward us. _Oh, **what** now?_ "Don't tell me I need to stay?" I asked.

"Let me see," she said, sitting me back down on the bed. She shined a flashlight in my eyes, asking me to follow the light with my eyes. "Any more headache or dizziness?" she asked.

"No," I said.

"You look good... you are free to go," she said.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," I said.

She looked rather touched at that.

As we left the hospital wing I said, "Now no one's supposed to know that I was there last night, all right? I wasn't even a part of it."

My friends and I walked out onto the grounds. I had never been so happy to be in the fresh air, last night had been an entirely different story. I noticed Remus walking toward a carriage with his suitcase and an empty grindylow tank.

"I'll be right back," I said, running over to him.

"What? Some extra homework you forgot to do for him?" Draco asked.

"Haha very funny!" I said, continuing toward the carriage. Once I was close enough, I shouted, "Remus!"

Remus turned around in surprise, just placing his suitcase and grindylow tank into the carriage.

"What, did you think you were leaving without saying good bye?" I asked jokingly, slowing to a stop next to him.

"Are you going to say what Harry said and try to keep me here?" he asked with a smile.

_So Harry went to him, too._ "I don't know, how about you tell me after I've said it?" I asked breathlessly. "Even though you are a werewolf – which in my opinion shouldn't have to change anything, though I know parents will not want you here – you have been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had. Last night was a close call, but... Harry did happen to conjure a Patronus – a very strong one at that – thanks to you."

Remus was really at a loss for words... in a good way. He looked as though he was almost about to burst into happy tears – he looked just as Sirius did the night before when Harry, Hermione and I saved him from a horrible fate.

"I bet I've said something a little different," I said with a small laugh.

He nodded, his eyes glistening with tears threatening to come out.

"I'm also sorry I bit you last night in order to keep everyone safe –"

He burst into laughter, the tears pouring, "So that was _you_?" He pulled the sleeves of his pants up on his left side to show the bite marks I'd made. "I wondered..."

"I am an Animagus – a cobra. I knew it wouldn't kill you in werewolf form, but would keep you from harming anybody. I suppose karma came into play, because right when I transformed back into myself Peter hit me with a spell and I ended up with a concussion."

He laughed and widened his arms out, capturing me in a hug that I returned.

Pulling away, he wiped his eyes and said, "I will see you again some day, Melody... thank you."

"We better see each other again," I said warningly, he laughed at that too.

Slipping into the carriage and closing it behind him, he waved good bye, and so did I.

The last week at Hogwarts was full of rumors flying all over the place about what happened that night that Sirius and Buckbeak got away. My friends kept asking me about what happened, but I didn't tell them everything. What really happened that night was between Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, and myself.

The exams came back – and as I already knew, I got full marks on everything. I spent a lot of time with my friends as they seemed to think that keeping with me would help to make sure that I didn't get hurt. Becky kept with me at night – sleeping very lightly, might I add – and Marcus kept his arm around me pretty much all day long.

Professor Snape, however, didn't seem to be having such a good week himself. I went to talk to him a short while before the last feast of the school year, having to throw Marcus's arm off of me and running into his office, closing and locking it so that even _Alohomora_ wouldn't work.

"_What_?" he asked irritable.

"Let me guess, you're mad at me," I said, coming over and sitting in front of his desk.

He sighed, "No."

"I meant what I said in the hospital wing – and don't think I haven't noticed how you've been acting around Harry this week... I never thought it was possible for you to hate him more than you already did." I said.

He didn't respond.

"Hmm, does this have to do with Gryffindor winning the House Cup for the third year in a row?" I asked.

His hands clenched into tight fists, and his teeth seemed to be glued together as he said, "_No._"

_He easily let's me get him angry_, "Come on, Severus, spit it out."

"_Melody, leave it alone!_" he said.

I was treading dangerous ground here... I stood up, walked over behind his desk and _hugged him_.

"_Melody, wha –_"

"Shh..." I whispered, hugging him until he relaxed. Who knew hugs were the answer to all problems? The moment he relaxed, I stood up and left his office – possibly leaving him to just stare at the door I just left from in absolute shock.

The feast was a happy one – except for the Slytherins. Draco had been complaining all week about how furious he was that Professor Hagrid had outsmarted him and his dad. He believed to himself that Professor Hagrid had smuggled Buckbeak away so that he couldn't be beheaded. I knew how absurd it was but chose not to respond, Rubeus Hagrid was obviously still overjoyed about Buckbeak getting away. I was still surprised about how much angrier Draco was about that than about us losing the House Cup again.

The next day, we were packed up and on the train again. I watched as the castle disappear in the distance.

"What are you doing this summer?" Draco asked us.

"Same as last summer," I said, "helping out at the wand shop."

"You could take a break, couldn't you?" he asked anxiously.

"Why?"

"The Quidditch World Cup is this summer! My father said I could invite anyone... we're going to be watching it in the Minister's box!"

I was intrigued. "That sounds like it'd be pretty cool."

Marcus shook his head, "For this whole summer I'll be in France with my parents – they're doing something for work and want me to come."

Becky's mouth was a thin line, "I'm not interested in the Quidditch World Cup."

"All right, so just you and me," Draco said. "Crabbe and Goyle will be with their parents at the game, you can be with father and myself."

_Oh joy, alone with just the two of you, **that** oughtta be interesting_.

We reached King's Cross station and stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters. I saw mom and Uncle Gerald instantly – and Uncle Gerald looked to be holding my new baby brother.

"I'll see you all later," I said to my friends.

Marcus stopped me before I could continue forward. "Write me, okay?" he said.

"Of course," I said with a smile. "As long as you write me back."

He chuckled, "There's something we haven't done in a while that we _should_ do before we leave."

"Oh, really? And what's that, I wonder?" I asked teasingly.

He bent down and kissed me – a kiss to make up for two months' worth of not seeing each other. "I'll give a better one once we see each other again," he said, hurrying away toward his parents. "Bye!"

"Bye!" I said, waving frantically at him. Then I turned only to be engulfed in a hug by my mom.

"Oh, Melody, it's so good to see you!" she said, hugging me tightly.

"It's good to see you've shrunken down again," I responded.

"Don't joke like that!" she said, pulling away with a laugh.

"Well, everytime you're pregnant, I'm _never_ nearby for when you give birth!" I said, looking to Uncle Gerald. "And good to see you again, Mr. 'smart-arse'."

He rolled his eyes, and thrust the baby at me "Here, _you_ hold Blake."

I tsked, and gently took Blake from him. I was captivated by his bright silvery gray eyes – _thank **God** those won over the blue eyes_ – and he had Gilderoy's golden locks. _This_ was going to be a _perfect_ baby, _much_ better than his dad. "Well, aren't _you_ a looker?" I cooed.

"Oh, God," Gerald said, slapping his hand to his face.

Mom pushed him and said, "He's going to be your _nephew!_ Get used to him!"

"He'll look exactly like his dad!" he retorted childishly.

"Absolutely not!" I said, "He will not _look_ like his dad, and most importantly he _will not be like_ his dad!"


End file.
